Bad Blood
by MEStarr
Summary: AU/AH Delena - They were friends...then more...but a mistake changes everything. What happens when they meet again five years on? Strong T maybe M for language
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**** I've changed things a little for this one. Firstly they're all human, alternate universe etc. Jeremy's two years older than Elena. Katherine's her cousin and John's daughter. Think that's everything…hope you enjoy it**

**Also I made a mistake and changed the ages/times of the story a little (this was after I'd finished the seventh chapter) so basically if there are any continuity errors or anything…I apologize, I tried my best to fix them all. Elena is now 25 and Damon's 27.**

**Listen to Bastille – Bad Blood…where the name and the idea comes from…amazing song, amazing band…give them a listen.**

Bad Blood – Chapter One

_You are cordially invited to celebrate the wedding of _

_Katherine Marie Petrova_

_Stefan Alberto Salvatore_

_On Friday, June the 3__rd_

_At four o'clock_

_Seventy-four, Park Avenue, Mystic Falls_

_Followed by a reception_

The thick, cream coloured card gave off the distinct aroma of roses. Combine it with the neat, curly typed handwriting the whole thing was perfectly cliché. Katherine was all about the traditional white wedding; no doubt she'd have a long train on her dress and 'something old, something blue and something borrowed.'

Katherine Petrova was my cousin, daughter to Uncle John who, I must admit, I hated with a passion. The man was an irritating, short-fused control freak who occasionally believed he was my father and could tell me what to do. His brother, Grayson, my father, together with my mother Miranda, had been killed in a car crash when Jeremy and I were younger. Being only five at the time I hardly remembered them but Jeremy would never let me forget; he'd been seven. After that our aunt Jenna, only 26, had moved in with us and become our legal guardian. Being so young she wasn't exactly on top of everything all the time…enter John and his unimpressed looks. At least we had fun.

Now Stefan was always one of my good friends since prep school. I have to admit I'd never seen him and Katherine together but since it happened I couldn't not admit that they were perfect for each other; the perfect balance of two polar opposites. In high school Katherine had been head cheerleader, prom queen…you know the type. Stefan had worked, stayed at home to study apart from when we dragged him out. He'd always loved Katherine so I guess when she talked to him he probably passed out…they really were quite cute. _He _made _her _nervous…I mean really. While I admit that Stefan is one of my closest friends (and ironically first boyfriend), and everyone (before Katherine) thought we'd end up together, it actually turned out to be his older brother, Damon…well, for a while at least.

I had hated him…and I mean truly _despised_ Damon Salvatore since the moment I met him, aged 7, two years younger than him. It started when he chopped the head off my most prized Barbie doll, then he'd pushed me ridiculously high on the swing in the park, put a _massive_ spider in my bed, 'accidentally' dropped paint all over me…you get the picture. He was the first boy to ever make me cry before I'd sucked up and started playing back. Over the following years he'd found a grass snake in his bed (paybacks a bitch), custard in his favourite shoes, toothpaste replaced with Savlon, beetroot juice when he asked for Ribena…you get the idea. It was always a mutual but slightly well-spirited hatred. I would adamantly tell everyone I hated him and he'd respond in kind.

When we got to high school though, the casual jibes became a little harsher, deeper…the pranks became slightly more serious. He got me a month of detention, I got him suspended. He spread a rumour…I did the same. Already bad, as we moved up the years they just became worse and worse until, not that I'd ever admit it to anyone, they actually hurt a little bit. The teachers already had us marked as the 'trouble' students. By the time he was in Senior Year it was more a one-sided thing. I'd almost had enough and my returns were weakening a little. I'd hacked his Facebook, filled his school bag with tampons so they all fell out over the canteen floor at lunch (his face), put Viagra in his drink without him knowing at break once, then left the box in plain sight, followed by spreading the rumour of his 'little problem'. If he wasn't a womanizer he was nothing so that was harsh for him.

It went on, but when the peak came it went way beyond what I'd expected. I knew this whole time we were working up and up, every time going one step further, but then he took it _so_ far. It was at a house party on Halloween, almost at midnight. I had no evidence that I was him that spiked my drink but I assumed it was. I think he just expected me to go a little crazy, embarrass myself a little…that's what he told me after. When I'd disappeared from the main party for a while he came to find me. I guess when he found me unconscious on a bed upstairs with Peter Crawley on top of me everything had changed. The next time Peter was at school his nose was broken, a few ribs…two massive shiners…he deserved it. I don't actually remember most about the night apart from Damon taking me back to his house and putting me down on his bed. Half- conscious, I could hear him saying sorry, over and over…

He was there when I woke up, passing me a steaming hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream, the morning-after pill sitting on the side table. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry…I don't think I'd ever cried so much in my life. He did too…I'd never seen any boy cry before. Maybe I should have blamed him…any normal person would have; but I just couldn't. Instead I'd swallowed the pills and silently set about bandaging up his bloody hands. We hardly talked, apart from quiet apologies on his part. I borrowed one of his shirts since mine was ripped and had drinks all down it. I gave him one last hug before leaving, not having said a word.

Three years later Peter Crawley would be arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for armed robbery and GBH but I hadn't pressed charges for whatever reasons, I guess I was embarrassed. I didn't even tell my family. There was more guilt on my shoulders but the man was okay. The night after I heard the doorbell go; Jenna was out but I left Jeremy to answer it, having buried myself in my duvet with my iPod playing on the speakers. I wouldn't be human if I was okay.

_Flashback:_

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and I sighed, calling whoever it was to enter. The side of the bed dipped down and I felt someone pulling the duvet away from my face. I froze when I saw who it was, a sober look on his face. Blinking, I pushed my hair out of my face and slowly pushed myself to sit up, "Hey…"

"Hi…" he replied, almost nervously, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay…"

I nodded, "I'm not." I said simply, because it was the truth and I didn't want to lie to him. The way he winced made me feel slightly bad about that, "I will be." More silence, "Thank you…for coming to find me."

At that his brow furrowed and he looked away, "I was too late though wasn't I. And you shouldn't be thanking me; it was my fault in the first place."

"It doesn't matter you stopped him. So thank you for that." We fell into silence again before I let out a sigh, playing with the duvet cover in my lap and hesitating before speaking, "Do you think…" I stopped, and then started again, feeling his curious gaze on my face, "Do you think we could stop this now? The pranks…I don't think I can deal with any more…"

I refused to look at his face but then his hand was covering mine and on reflex I looked up, seeing the pain in his blue eyes, "Yes…of course. I'm so sorry Lena…I'm so, so sorry."

_End of Flashback_

Would you believe that give it two months and we were going out. I'd always seen him as the epitome of a jackass but after the Halloween party he'd changed…noticeably. For the following weeks when I wouldn't leave the house he came round every day, making me hot chocolate every time I felt slightly down, cheering me up and just making sure I wasn't alone. I didn't really understand why, Jeremy was completely confused; Jenna was shocked and bemused…my friends Caroline and Bonnie were simply gobsmacked. But I was happy when he was around…I don't know why.

Damon and I were together for four years after that. We made a success of a long-distance relationship when he went off to Harvard to do Medicine; insanely clever with dreams of becoming a heart surgeon. But good things don't last forever. I was twenty, him twenty two…it was around about spring time and I got a call from his best friend at Harvard, Jamie, saying that I needed to come pick him up from a club since he had to leave and Damon was wasted. They'd come back to Mystic Falls for a half term at the same time I had and I couldn't have been more excited. I was always happier when he was there. When he'd met me at the airport it had been like one of those cliché rom-coms where he ran over and spun me round, planting a massive kiss on my lips to make the elderly couple nearby shake their heads. He'd whispered those three beautiful words that had taken so long for us to reach in my ear and I returned them with a kiss. I'd always remember the little things like that because it meant so much.

The club in question was one of the biggest in town and most famous for its slaggy girls. I remember the boys in my year always going on about 'some chick' they picked up there…nicknamed the Mystic Brothel by a huge number. When Damon had told me Jamie insisted on going there I just laughed and told him to behave with a laugh. He'd rolled his eyes and kissed my cheek, telling me earnestly that he'd never even look at another girl and Jamie had agreed, saying he was just the worst wingman. So I guess that was why I wasn't nervous. I'd had friends who catch their boyfriends cheating in places like this but Damon wasn't like that.

I didn't find him outside or inside by the bar, on the dance floor nor in any of the booths. Confusion growing, I did another round before thinking that maybe he was in the toilet. I didn't make a point of going into men's toilets but this wasn't a first. I'd barely opened the door before I heard the familiar moaning of someone having sex. Typical club; skanks fucking each other in every dark spot. I don't know what made me look at who it was…I was just going to go out and look somewhere else, but then I caught a glimpse of that familiar raven hair standing by the sinks and I couldn't hold back the gasp of shock and horror. His eyes were drooping closed but the dark circles under them instantly told me how drunk he was. My eyes travelled down to the dirty blonde kneeling in front of him. My eyes were blurring as I took a blind step back, hitting the metal bin and it crashed against the wall. The noise was enough for his eyes to snap open, blood shot and hazy. It took him a second to piece together the situation but I'd gone before he'd even been able to call my name.

He'd chased after me and arrived at my house ten minutes or so after me, hammering persistently on the door until Jenna told him to go away. By the time I woke up in the morning my mailbox was full and I had 60 missed calls from him. I guess I'd been in shock, because after all these years and all the drama we'd been through, all the promises…I find him cheating in a grotty club toilet. If I'd been a little more reasonable, I may have realised that he'd been blind drunk at the time and should have given him the opportunity to explain. By the time I realised that it was a year later and I was in New York. A snap decision had found me on the plane the next afternoon. I regretted it…hell I regretted leaving and not letting him explain but now it was too late. He'd hurt me…he'd really hurt me, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I didn't go on dates or see people at all anymore because I couldn't move on but I couldn't forget.

I'd been back to Mystic Falls, obviously…I'd just always timed my visits to when he wasn't there because I was me and I was pathetic and I was scared of confrontation. This wedding though? How could I avoid him? Katherine had already given me the post of maid of honour and, him being Stefan's brother, would undoubtedly by best man. So what was I to do? All my friends and family were telling me that it had been three years and I needed to forgive him, and I was ready to I think…but as I said, that meant confronting that I was wrong to leave and the fact that he'd be equally annoyed at me and…and it just wouldn't be easy, that's all. But maybe it was time to suck it up and get over myself. Because let's face it, no matter what's happened in the past, he was the best thing for me and without him nothing was the same.

**So what did you think? Please review and let me know**


	2. Chapter 2

**Bad Blood – Chapter Two**

-New York-

"Elena Gilbert! Get your skinny butt over here right this minute!"

The screeching voice from the other side of the flat woke me from my sleep and I frowned in amazed confusion, standing and making my way to the kitchen, "Jesus Christ Vera you sounded like my old headmaster there." I muttered, finding my friends sitting on the corner of the counter with a tub of ice cream in her hand, a spook in the other and a huge fluffy pink dressing gown over her pyjamas, massive unicorn slippers on her feet, my lion ones on my own feet. It was surely a strange sight. If you saw Vera Castellanos at work you'd be absolutely terrified of her. She was like Sandra Bullock in 'The Proposal'…scary. But you see her at one o'clock in the morning like this and you couldn't even imagine her liquidizing quivering interns with one stern look.

"What's this?" She asked in her normal, sweet voice. I sometimes think she had a split-personality disorder.

Following her finger to the small card on the central island, I sighed and slipping into one of the bar stools, "That is a wedding invitation. As you know because you've read it."

She grinned, popping another spoonful of Cookie Dough in her mouth, swallowing it before speaking, "Yes I have. Are you going? It's next week."

"I guess…I'll have to ask the boss for time off though." I worked at a publishing company called Peirce and Sons…very original. I was somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy which was quite impressive considering the fact that I was only twenty-three…I had my own office and a PA called Jones…well, Alex Jones but I liked calling him his surname since he said that he was only called that when he was in trouble.

"Same, but I'm basically my own boss so that's fine." I raised my eyebrow in question and she let out a disparaging sigh, "Obviously you're not going on your own. Anyway, Katherine invited me too; you know how much she loves me."

I guess that was true. Katherine was all about fashion and celebrity and, admittedly, Vera was halfway to both. She worked at Vogue and was always going to these glamorous parties. I promise you that's not why I'm friends with her, although I did appreciate the many outfits I got off her and the occasional plus-one to these events. No, we'd met at university, both taking English; she'd been my room-mate in the first year. Katherine was definitely happy when she came to Mystic Falls with me one holiday, "Alright, alright," I muttered, picking off some grapes from the bowl and eating them.

"Besides, you know I can't let you face McDreamy without me." Yes, yes we'd been watching Grey's Anatomy and yes, Vera had decided that Damon was my McDreamy. He was even a heart surgeon. How ironic. The nickname had stuck.

I let out another sigh and propped my head up on my hand, "And that's why I don't really want to go." I saw her open her mouth to tell me to suck it up so I quickly continued, "But I'm going! I am and I'm going to sort it out. Don't give me a rant; I know exactly what you're going to say."

She smiled, hopped down and threw the now empty tub in the bin (damn her never putting on weight), waltzing over to me and popping a kiss on the side of my head, "Just don't get hurt Sloth." She said the old nickname with a smile (just because I like my lie-ins) before saying goodnight and heading towards her room.

"Night Captain." I gave a mock-salute and she laughed, waving before disappearing into her room.

If you were going to an ordinary wedding, you probably just go in a nice dress or suit…but this was no ordinary wedding…this was a Mystic Falls Wedding. We had a Founders Council…meaning Founders Month which was more just an excuse for endless parties or dinners. So Stefan Salvatore, a member of one of the Founding Families, getting married was a rather large thing. I had one very large suitcase for clothes (some courtesy of the Vogue wardrobe…I love Vera), then another smaller one for make-up, random bits and bobs, and presents because I couldn't go home without presents. The third and final bag (unless you count the clutch in my clothes bag) was just a simple shoulder bag, but don't worry…they weren't all matching Louis Vuitton. No, they were all matching pale blue.

We'd decided to fly there, not in the mood for a six and a half hour car journey. This way it only took an hour (sorry world) and we touched down at five in the afternoon. One long taxi drive later and we were finally pulling up outside my family home. Jenna had insisted that we stay there rather than a hotel even though there were already a few people staying. For starters there was Jeremy and his girlfriend Anna, and then there was an old friend of Katherine and me, Lexi. Katherine's godmother Eva and her husband Chris were staying in the spare room. Everything was made all the more frantic by the fact that Jenna and her husband Alaric had a four year called Gabriel and an eight year old called Sophie. It wasn't a large house, but John's was even smaller where he, Katherine and her grandparents were staying…the whole town was crazy. Even the Salvatore Boarding House was full and one of the reasons we were staying here was that the town's one hotel was indeed full and the only other option would be that dodgy motel on the outskirts of town.

We were sharing my room, which was still my room whether or not I lived here, a mattress on the floor for one of us since Lexi was in there too. Jeremy still had his with Anna. Sophie (who was just coming up to that 'cool' stage) was not best pleased about having to share with her little brother although Jenna claimed she was just trying to act older because we were here. I loved both my two cousins equally, but I had to admit that Gabe was just the cutest thing, with his curly ginger hair and huge blue eyes and he really did give the best cuddles.

We'd timed our arrival perfectly so kiddie dinner was over and bath time was about to begin. Knowing the routine like the back of my hand, once the greetings were done I followed Jenna's silent plea and went to find the little ones. I left Vera downstairs to talk though, knowing how much she didn't like children. She really was a lovely person…once you got to know her. Don't get me wrong she's my best friend and I love her but to people who don't know her she can come across pretty cold…lucky she'd met everyone here before and liked them…well, apart from Bonnie.

There were no serious topical territories breeched that day, nor the next. I guess everyone was too busy in the wedding preparations. Only Lexi and I were bridesmaids, and then Sophie was a flower girl; everyone had their jobs. The days passed in a flurry of dress fittings and panics and calm-downs so it was the day before the wedding that Caroline (perhaps my closest, very excitable and manic friend) managed to pull me aside.

"You know he arrived today."

That was all she really needed to say and I knew we were 'there'…it was about to begin, "I heard." I said simply, trying not to let anything show.

She sighed, that typical pity look spreading over her face and I knew she was about to try and reason with me, like I needed it, "Lennie I know he hurt you but you still love him, he still loves you…please just give him a chance this time…"

I frowned a little, glancing out the window at Katherine who was waiting impatiently by the car for us to go for a final dress fitting, "Caroline I never gave him a chance and I haven't seen him once since it happened. You know I regret that so stop making me feel worse. I will give him a chance, I will talk to him, and I will try. But you've all made it out that I'm the only one who needs to forgive…you seem to forget that he's going to pissed off at me too. I took off without a word and without giving him a chance to even sober up. So yes…it's going to have to be a mutual forgiving…moment."

My rant barely seemed to function, she just seemed to capture that 'I will give him a chance' bit and she was trying to squeeze the air out of me, "Thank you! I don't like seeing my people sad."

"I'm not sad!" But she was already gone and Katherine was yelling at us. Jheeze these people.

I had a newfound respect for Katherine. Most people like to humiliate their bridesmaids by selecting the most vile dress and colour for them to wear but she's actually chosen nice ones. She'd gone for a white a blue colour scheme so we were in pale blue strapless floor-length dresses with a sort of empire waist, fine details on the bodice. They were beautiful, and thankfully the type that you could reuse…perfect. Each of us would be carrying a small bouquet of white roses, including Katherine who was in a stunning white dress.

I fell asleep that night (after a very long day) with my dress hung up on the door. The following morning would no doubt be an absolute panic but as long as I didn't have to deal with any cold feet I'd be happy. I realised just before drifting off that I hadn't even seen Stefan yet…I had to do that…

The bridesmaids dresses:

ted_baker_nour_silk_maxi/thing?id=50813931


	3. Chapter 3

**Quick author's note here…I don't normally reply to reviews through a chapter but it's an anonymous one so bear with me. So 'Guest'…I don't condone cheating…but this is just a different reaction to it and it's one that I've seen happen. And it all depends on the situation and I guess that's what I was trying to show…I don't know. Another review said it was more the nature of the break up that she regretted and I think that's a good summary…either way, I hope you continue reading and that you enjoy it.**

**Also, can I just say thank you for all the reviews...you guys are fabulous :) **

**Sorry, back to the story… **

**Bad Blood – Chapter Three**

The hallway leading to the grooms changing room was strangely quiet as I made my way down, looking around each corner before stepping out. I was all dressed and ready for the start in approximately an hour. Finally spotting the door in question, I knocked once, hearing a scuffle then a shout to come in and opened the door slowly.

There was Stefan, dressed in a smart black suit, white shirt, black bow tie undone around his neck and staring at a white rose boutonniere like it was a quantum physics, I couldn't help but laugh and his head snapped up, instantly brightening, "Elena Gilbert!"

I laughed, crossing the room and into his tight hug, "Hey Stef."  
"I have missed you Len!" He announced, "And I'm getting married today! Can you believe it!" He was clearly excited, a contagious grin stuck on his face.

"Yes you are. I seem to remember a time in freshman year where I said I'd throttle you if you got married before me." I teased, taking the boutonniere from his hand and pinning it carefully to his suit.

"Well if I had to have gotten married in freshman year then I would have probably have married you so that wouldn't have been possible." Laughing quietly, I rolled my eyes and glanced around the room.

"Are you nervous? Any cold feet?"

"Not one! My toes are toasty warm. Why? Has she? Is she alright?" And enter the nervous groom.

"Chill, she's just as excited. Even I'm excited…I think even Vera's excited and you know what she's like." He laughed at that; he'd met her a couple of times back in university and heard enough about her to know that she didn't really get that excited about things.

He sighed and looked at the top of my head, a small smile on his face, "I really have missed you though, I'm glad you're here. We thought you might not come…"  
I frowned a little, "And why would I miss my cousin and one of my oldest friend's wedding?" He gave me one of those looks and I let out another sigh, "It's been long enough." I didn't look him in the eye as I said it, instead focusing on doing up his tie. We were silent for a moment as I did it and I felt the mood slipping a little, choosing to lighten it before I left, "Buck up chum, you're getting married in half an hour." He grinned at that and I muttered a quiet good bye before slipping out of the room.

You wouldn't expect there to be so many corridors in a church. I was halfway back, the sound of the guests just reaching my ears when I turned a corner and smacked right into a hard chest. Before I could fall though, an arm caught me around the waist and pulled me back. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I lost it again the second I saw those shocked piercing blue eyes, then let out a groan and stepped back, "So typical." I muttered, referring to how entirely movie-like it was that I'd run into him of all people.

He quirked an eyebrow and stepped back, "Hello to you too…long time no speak."

How could I sigh so much? "Sorry…hi…" An expected awkward silence filled the air, "How are you?" To be honest I was a little shell shocked.

He shrugged, "I'm great. You look well."

"Yeah I'm alright…" Glancing down the corridor I spotted a pale blue dress like my own and saw my escape, "Sorry, I need to go…duties calling." He nodded but didn't move, just watching me with a strange expression on his face. I could hardly meet his eyes; my heart was going entirely too fast, "Can-…can we talk later? Maybe…I understand if you don't want to…or tomorrow…I don't know." I shut myself before I could embarrass myself any more, blubbering like a nervous freshman.

He cut me off though, "Yeah, sure…lots to talk about." I noted the slight bitter tone and flinched a little. It was only when he'd said a quiet goodbye and walked off that I realised that no matter whether I'd given him the chance to explain or not…he was the one who cheated. Shouldn't I be the bitter one?

I didn't get any more time to think about it because suddenly there was Katherine and Lexi. It felt like only moments later that the music had started and Lexi and I were heading down the aisle. It felt so weird…surreal…walking down an aisle towards Damon. I guess five years ago I thought it would happen but then we'd managed to ruin everything…I wasn't sure who I was meant to blame anymore.

For everyone watching and most involved, the ceremony ran without a hitch. It wasn't entirely easy though, for me to be standing on a step opposite Damon Salvatore for an hour as the priest recited the typical marriage speech. No it wasn't easy at all…especially with him refusing to look away from me. I didn't look away from my cousin but I could hardly focus while feeling like I was being x-rayed. By the time the priest pronounced them man and wife, they kissed and turned to go down the aisle again, I was about to lose it. My hands were clenched around the bouquet and shaking slightly as Damon and I followed, the others behind us.

I didn't see him again until the reception at the hotel. I was sat between Vera and Tyler Lockwood, he was on another of the white circular tables about three away. Katherine, Stefan and their parents sat on the main table in front of the dance floor. The speeches were finished in about twenty minutes (my least favourite part of being maid of honour), then came the first dance. Eventually half the massive party was on the dance floor and Vera and I were the only two left on our table. She let out a loud sigh before silently grabbing my hand and pulling me out into the floor. I couldn't help but laugh, "You are a caveman Vera Castellanos." At her scowl I corrected myself, "Cavewoman."

"I'm bored."

Sigh, "You're always bored of something. Relax…enjoy yourself."

Her next very abrupt question shocked me into silence, "Who's Elijah Mikaelson?"

Now where did that come from? "Urm…that's Klaus' brother…they're a founding family. Why?" She didn't answer, not looking at me and I swear I saw a faint blush spreading across her cheeks, letting out a quiet gasp. A grin started to tug at the corner of my lips, "Vera…tell me why."

She let out a little moan and I tried not to laugh. I hadn't seen her like this since university, "Well…it's nothing…I just…" At my expectant expression she let out a frustrated sigh and spat it out finally, "I was sitting next to him at the wedding and we talked a little. He's nice."

At that my mouth fell open in amused shock, "Vera you like someone!"

"Yes, yes don't act like it's such a shock."

"But you're you! You never like anyone! Sometimes I don't even think you like me! But you _like_ like someone!" I think my excitement was clear.

"No, that's not entirely true…I'm just too busy and relationships get in the way. See what they did to you, you almost failed second year because of men. Men are bad…but I do like him, yes." I winced a little at her loud voice at a momentary lull in the music and I was sure a number of people heard that…damn. What could you expect though? She claimed that I'd been almost clinically depressed for a good few months after that and, yes, I didn't do as well as I should have done in my exams.

I nodded, glancing around the dance-floor and spotting the man in question at a table talking to his younger brother, his dark green eyes trained solely on my friend, "Well go for it. He's been watching you this whole time." Her eyes widened a little and she glanced over, a small laugh slipped through my lips at her childishness, "V he's a good guy…and he's serious, like you. He's in business…in New York a lot…I think you'll be good."

Give it five minutes and he'd approached, stealing her away for a dance. Jeremy didn't let me sit down though, insisting on a dance with his little sister. I hadn't seen him in a good few months so that catch up was appreciated. That was, I appreciated it until he brought by McDreamy who was currently sitting at another table talking to Alaric and Mason Lockwood.

"Jer I really don't want to talk about it with you or here…"

He rolled his eyes, not taking that for an answer, "Well all I'm going to say is talk to him. He's changed and-"

"'And it wasn't his fault, he was drunk. You never gave him a chance to explain or apologize. Get over it Elena.' I know, you don't need to say it. I'm sorry it's taken a while for me to get over seeing my boyfriend of four years getting sucked off by some slut in a club toilet." I wasn't entirely sure where the rant came from, nor the bitterness but I guess I'd had a bit to drink and to tell the truth I wasn't entirely over it. Jheeze I contradicted myself a lot.

"-Lena that's not-"

"-I know, sorry. I'm gonna get some air." I muttered before quickly taking my leave, heading out into the hotel lobby and outside. The hotel was situated on the main square, adjacent to the Town Hall and opposite the Mystic Grill. In the middle was a large grassy area, surrounded by a road which, at this moment in time, was full of parked cars. I didn't look as I crossed the road, my head buzzing slightly and the many glasses of champagne were starting to make themselves known. So maybe that was why, halfway across the road, I hadn't looked and so hadn't noticed the speeding SUV heading towards me until it was about five metres away. Everything seemed to slow down for a moment and my legs refused to run, something in my head just seemed to accept it. But then something grabbed my arm and I felt like I was flying, everything speeding up again as I collided with a hard chest and the SUV shot past. I heard the person who'd pulled me out the way shout something after it but my brain didn't compute the words…just the smell…

Oh god it would be him wouldn't it. Of all people, "Lena you need to start looking where you're going."

Taking a minute to calm my breathing, I stepped back a little and looked up at the former love of my life…that didn't sound right…the former part…perhaps because he still was. No matter what he did he'd always hold that position…the jackass. "Thanks." I murmured, looking down at my five inch heels that were slowly murdering my feet.

"No problem." A moment of silence followed before he spoke again, "So do you think this is a good time to talk? We may as well get it done."

I frowned at his tone but nodded and picked up the hem of my dress so as not to trip, making my way to the large tree in the centre of the square with the bench just under it. The strings of lights had been lit up all around the square, just like they did on Founding Events or evening events in the square…dammit for making such a romantic atmosphere with the full moon and stars; it just made everything so much more awkward.

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, neither sure of where to start the conversation that had been some five years coming. My mouth chose then to take hold of its free will and break the silence without consulting my head at all, "You hurt me Damon…you know that. And I know you were drunk but you broke my heart. I know I took off and I should have given you a chance to explain and I regret not…I really regret not seeing you first but it hurt…" I felt a little disappointed in myself…I'd thought I'd last at least ten minutes without my eyes tearing up but no; I was still as pathetic as ever. I didn't look at him but out of the corner of my eye I could see the frown on his face, the pained expression, "Everyone keeps telling me to get over it but it's not as easy as it sounds. And I think I have forgiven you a little but I don't know…I don't know."

Again he didn't reply for a good few minutes and I just stared at my hands locked together in my lap, digging my nails into the flesh of the other to try and focus the pressure somewhere else. Then finally he spoke, "I don't think you'll ever understand how sorry I am." He said suddenly, his voice a whole lot stronger than mine, "What I'd done barely even registered with me until I woke up in some alley the next morning and then I just threw everything up. It made me sick…_I _made me sick. Because I loved you, and I'd never hurt you but I did. I broke every promise I'd ever made you in one stupid night and I'd lost you because of it. I didn't know how to deal with that." My breath caught in my throat at the past tense and I looked away, desperate for him not to notice. No matter what anyone had said I assumed he would have moved on…he probably had some gorgeous, model girlfriend in California or something. "I went to your house that evening but your cousin…your four year old cousin at the time, told me very angrily that I'd broken you and you'd left. Followed by Jenna, then Jeremy yelling at me." I tried my best not to crack a smile at the idea of little Sophie telling Damon off.

"You deserved it."  
"I know."

More silence, only filled by the sound of the rustling leaves above us and the faint music from inside the hall. We were sat as far away from each other on the bench as possible…it probably looked quite strange to an outsider, "You were so drunk…" I said quietly, not quite sure what my point was; I could feel him looking at me, "What were you thinking?" It didn't come out like an accusation as it usually did when people asked that question…no, it was just a soft, curious question because I needed to understand.

He let out a sigh, shaking his head a little, "I have no idea. I can't justify myself at all. All I can think off to make it any better was that I was blind drunk but that won't help anything. I had no reason…I was so happy with you; you were everything to me." Again with the past tense. I don't think he realised that every time was like another knife in my already ruined heart. Best not let it show. "I can't remember a thing about her-"  
"-I can." I interrupted, not thinking, "She was blonde. Pretty sure she was just wearing a bra and a black leather skirt…of course I only saw the back of her." If I winced at that I was sure he felt the burn…I regretted the words and the bitterness but there wasn't much I could do about it.

"I deserved that." He muttered after a moment, "Would it help if I told you I was sorry?"

"I know you are…I know that."

Silence.

"I'm sorry." He said anyway, very quietly and I had to look away again as my eyes filled again, clenching my teeth together, "I'm so sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry for everything."

It took me a while to blink away the tears and be able to form words, "I'm sorry I didn't let you explain." I whispered shakily, staring holes into the bush opposite, "I'm sorry I took off and avoided you for five years that was childish. I know you're annoyed about it."

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Caroline and Vera barging loudly through the doors of the hotel, looking around frantically, I frowned and listened to what my blonde friend was saying, "Where the hell is she!? God I hope she hasn't left-"  
"She would not leave, she probably just wanted air and-"  
They both stopped abruptly, spotting Damon and I on the bench. I looked down, knowing that both of them knew me well enough to tell how I was feeling from my expression, even from some forty metres away. "Oh…" My hearing sure had improved over the past few years. A few minutes later and Damon noted out-loud that they'd gone. I didn't reply and he spoke again quietly, "Who's your friend?"

I shrugged, leaning forwards and staring down at the ground, leaning on one straight arm while the other hand traced the faint white line just above the inside of my elbow, "Vera…best friend in New York."

"She's kind of scary." I couldn't refrain from laughing quietly at that, "What! She is..."  
I nodded in agreement, "You should see her at work…she's like the boss from hell."

"What does she do?"

"Fashion…Vogue." That was all that needed to be said; he nodded in understanding and fell quiet. The awkwardness began slipping back in after our momentary return to relationships past. We didn't say anything more, just sat there and it was from that bench that we watched a large black Bentley pull up and almost the whole wedding party came out to wave off the happy couple. No-one seemed to worry that the maid of honour and best man were missing, but just before he followed his wife into the car, Stefan looked up straight at us, just sending over a smile before disappearing into the car. Two minutes later the car had vanished around the corner and most of the crowd had returned to suck the remaining life out of the party, dragging it on for as long as was humanly possible. A few though made their way to their cars, driving off and remembering the night for all things good.

My next words weren't entirely thought out, "So are you seeing anyone?"

It was a tense minute before he replied and I braced myself for finding out that he was engaged or the like, "No." That shocked me and I glanced up at him for a second, he carried on, "A few one night stands but nothing serious." I nodded, trying not to feel anything resembling jealousy because I couldn't…that wouldn't be fair. "You?"

This time I took a minute to think it through, "No…" he waited for me to carry on, "Vera's probably a better judge on this than I am. I went a little weird about a month after I got back to New York. I felt like I was cheating on you every time which just made me more pissed off with myself…went through a few phases but she got me back on track." I let the words hang in the air for a minute, mentally scolding myself for mentioning that, "But no…I haven't seen anyone."

There wasn't much to say back to that…we'd not so subtly established that we were both single. Where that information would lead us I couldn't know, but I guess I'd find out. I'd taken a week off for this wedding which mean my flight home was booked in three days…who knew what could happen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bad Blood – Chapter Four**

I didn't sleep at all the night of the wedding, too many thoughts in my head. Knowing that Vera would punch me in her sleep if I didn't quit fidgeting, I pulled my short black silk dressing gown on over my pyjamas, my lion slippers on my feet and headed out of the room, stepping carefully over an unconscious and muttering Lexi. Yes you may say that the slippers with the huge lions head on they were marginally juvenile but they were just so comfy and warm and I did love them. I tried not to think of what I looked like as I tip-toed down the stairs with my hair pulled up in a messy high ponytail and my pyjamas only some short shorts and a tank top.

There were no lights on downstairs, being three in the morning and everyone was asleep. I tried to make as little noise as possible while making myself some camomile tea before stepping out onto the front porch and pulling the door too behind me. The bench swing to the left of the door was one of my favourite places to sit, especially when I couldn't sleep. You come out here at night and look over the completely silent street…it's such a contrast to New York. If you were to go out onto the street where our apartment is at night there would be cars speeding by, people on the side-walk…it was just so different. I couldn't even imagine someone like John or Carol Lockwood there.

I jumped a little when my phone vibrated in the gown pocket and I pulled it out, seeing a text from Caroline: _Are you up?_ I replied yes and she responded in under a minute: _Feel like doing something? I'm bored and can't sleep._ I laughed, remembering that this was just like what we'd do all those years ago before college; _Sure, do I need to get changed?_ Again she didn't take long to reply, probably already in her car: _Pah, no, pyjamas are the way forward._

Not five minutes later I stood up and headed towards the red Ford Fiesta 2009 that had just turned onto the street. Caroline grinned at me as I jumped in, noting that she was in a similar attire to my own, "Care we look ridiculous." I said, looking pointedly at her My Little Pony shorts.

"Bitch please look at your slippers."

Laughing I looked out the window as we sped down the street, "So where are we going?"

She smiled, turning a corner onto a quiet road and pressing down on the accelerator a little more, "To our favourite place, obviously." I nodded in understanding, smiling a little as, about ten minutes later; she turned off into a small forest road. It wasn't a long way down until the trees began to thin to uncover the huge silver tinted lake with the small island in the middle, a willow tree perfectly placed there. The moon reflecting on the still water a little beyond the small wooden fishing pier was like a photo-shopped picture. A smile on my face, I slipped off my slippers and we got out of the car and headed down towards the water's edge. We used to come down here all the time; Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Matt, Stefan and I…sometimes Damon would come with his friends too. No-one really knew about it but it was our place. Caroline, Stefan and I had been the ones to find it when on my 16th birthday they thought it would be funny to dress up as kidnappers, grab me out of my bed bright and early in the morning, stuff me in the trunk of Stefan's car and drive off.

I was not impressed. Scariest moment of my life and yes…I did take pleasure in pushing them both into the water.

We made our way along the pier, laughing quietly at nothing in particular but the memories, only lit up by the silver moonlight, "The others are on their way." She told me as we sat down at the very end, our legs swinging off the edge about a metre above the water. And sure enough not five minutes later two cars pulled up and out came Tyler, Damon, Matt, Rebecca (Matt's girlfriend), Klaus (her brother) and Bonnie. They came and sat around us, Damon right at the other end which I was somewhat thankful for, looking out over the water and I remembered old times.

"Who remembers when we kidnapped Lennie and brought her here-"Caroline mused and I cut her off as everyone burst out laughing.

"Yes I do! And don't laugh, if it was one of you then you'd understand. It was not funny…until a while after and I'd managed to get my revenge and get over the trauma." It was funny…looking back, but as I said…not at the time.

"No that was genius. I'm just jealous I didn't think of it myself." Tyler commented and I smacked his shoulder behind Bonnie on my right, "Ow!"

"Jerk." He just laughed and I rolled my eyes. We were really close, always had been…but we liked to take the piss out of each other.

"So where do you think Kat and Stef are now?" I said to nobody in particular. Stefan had kept their honeymoon destination completely secret so nobody knew, not even Katherine.

There was a thoughtful silence before Caroline spoke, "Probably the Bahamas or somewhere hot like that…"  
"No, I'd say Europe…Italy or France." Klaus said, disagreeing with his girlfriend for once.

"Yeah, and they have a house there…" The Salvatore's seemed to have houses everywhere, but since they were Italian they did have a massive house on Lake Komo…with a boat and everything. I'd been there a few times when I was with Damon and I had to admit, it was heaven. Plus we saw George Clooney which was always a bonus.

Another silence followed before Caroline nudged my arm with her own and I looked up to find her watching me expectantly, "I saw you and Damon talking at the reception…" she said quietly so the others wouldn't be able to hear.

I let out a sigh and nodded, "Yeah…you wanted me to talk to him, I did."

She nodded her head and looked over the water again, "Well if you want to talk about it you know I'm here."

I didn't reply, just bumped my shoulder against hers after a second and dropped my head onto her shoulder; a silent thank you. We stayed at the lake until the sun was just peaking over the horizon, talking and reminiscing as we always did when we were all present, which was surprisingly rare nowadays. Then it was time for us to get back in our cars and drive back to civilisation. Caroline dropped me off at Jenna's and by the time everyone else was waking up I was snuggled up in my bed, fast asleep.

Alaric and Jenna had decided to host a barbecue the next afternoon, making the most of the hot weather. As much as I liked the formal events, these were so much better when you didn't have to dress up. Five o'clock found me, Caroline, Vera and Bonnie lounging around on huge beanie-bags on the lawn. We'd set out loads of rugs, cushions and beanie-bags around the garden as we usually did and they were almost all occupied by various friends and family. While most of the wedding party had already gone back to their homes, a few closer friends remained.

I was wearing some short dark denim shorts and a simple loose grey crop top, some navy havaianas flip-flops on my feet. My hair was pulled up into a high pony-tail, hanging over one shoulder with some small hanging cross earrings. Since Vera was a bit of a fitness fanatic, always having to look at her best working in such a high-ranking fashion magazine, she'd insisted on me being her 'gym buddy' which wasn't as bad as I'd expected it to be. She'd then decided that because we'd finally achieved our goals of 'washboard abs' we were going to get our belly buttons pierced. What Vera wanted she got. When Bonnie, my most conservative friend, spotted a tattoo on the side of my ribs, just under my bra strap when I reached up to get something…she wasn't entirely impressed. So what…we'd gone a little out there in our idleness a few years back. It was perhaps a little cheesy but at least it had a meaning…a dream catcher…and yes I'd gone through a phase of regretting it but now I loved it. About three inches long and quite narrow, the detailed feathers were the largest part…easy to hide but I never purposefully felt the need.

Noticing the empty glasses around our little group, I hopped up and grabbed two empty jugs, heading inside to fill them up in the kitchen. This was where another one of my little New York excursions came into use. After graduating and being persistently jobless, my friend Chris and I decided to take a bartending course, just to help broadening our horizons…if we couldn't get a real job we could always work in a bar…easier jobs to get. So yes, I was a pro at mixing up drinks. I'd just finished filling one jug up with Pimm's, Gabriel sitting on the counter beside me, watching intently, when someone else entered the kitchen. I glanced up for a moment and froze, quickly looking back down and began chopping the lime into slices, "Hey." I said quietly after a moment.

"Hey…" he hovered at the door before walking a little closer, "How are you?"

"Fine." My hands were moving as if they had a life of their own, whipping up a mojito pitcher faster than ever before, "You?"

"I'm good." Why did this have to be so awkward, I hated awkwardness! "You look good." Damn him. I felt the faint blush spreading across my cheeks and tilted my head away a little more so he wouldn't notice.

"Thanks…" I wasn't exactly sure what I was meant to say. Finishing the cocktails, I turned to look at him; trying not to let my gaze linger…he looked so good. I guess he always did but I wasn't so used to seeing it anymore, "You too."

He smirked, glancing at the drinks then back at me, "You want a hand with them?"

"Sure." I accepted with a small smile, passing him the Pimm's and walking to an expectant Gabriel, putting an arm around his little waist and picking him up as he wrapped his legs around my waist, adjusting him before picking up the other pitcher. "G you can walk perfectly fine." I commented, pressing a kiss to his forehead as I headed towards the door, Damon following behind.

"No I can't, my legs fell off."

I laughed at that, shaking my head, "Of course they did." He grinned up at me, one hand curling around the end of my ponytail and holding on; thank god for having long hair, it didn't hurt. Turning back to Damon when we reached the food table, I said, "You can put that one down here."

"Yes sir." He joked and I let a smile slip through, nodding at Alaric by the barbecue who waved back, "He looks like he needs help."

That was true, there were about thirty people here and he had insisted that he wanted to be the BBQ man rather than anyone else…in the heat of the sun and the massive industrial barrel barbecue, he was 'beginning' to break quite a sweat, "Yes he's looking a little red in the face," I mused, looking back at my ex who was still watching me.

"I guess I'll go save the day then." He said with a smile before crossing the patio to my relieved looking sort of uncle. A small smile still resting on my face, I heading back to my previous seat, setting the pitcher on the rug in front of my friend before dropping down into the beanie bag. Gabriel sat sideways on my lap, cuddling into me and I wrapped my arms around him, tickling his belly for a moment and he giggled before snuggling closer and falling silent. It was then that I noticed my friends pointed looks.

"What?"

"Uh…patio…Damon…that smile on your face…explain?" Caroline demanded.

I shrugged, "He helped with the drinks." That wasn't enough for them and I sighed again, "Is this what it's going to be like every time you see the two of us in the same place?"

"Yes! We have been waiting five years for the two of you to-"

"-Care, shush." Bonnie cut her off before she said too much, knowing full well that there was only so much I could handle. "What she's trying to say, is that we're just happy you're talking again…and no matter what happened in the past…we like seeing it happen…" She was quiet for a moment before adding, "And this is coming from someone who doesn't actually like the guy. I just like seeing you happy…I think he's s jerk-"  
"Bonnie don't ruin everything!" Caroline said with an angry look at our most opinionated friend, "I mean, sure…he's a jackass and he's rude…and an arrogant mother fucker…but the point is…and I'm not saying you're any of those things, you're the complete opposite…but somehow because of that you're perfect for each other."

I sighed, knowing exactly what they were saying because I'd heard it before. It was true…but it wasn't the easiest thing to hear after everything that had happened. "Stop it…guys. I know you mean well and you just want us to get back together but it's not that easy." They had the good sense not to say anymore on the topic, rather leaving it a few minutes before Caroline announced she was hungry and the two of them went to the barbecue to get more food. Vera, on the bag right beside mine, put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a smile when I looked over, "I'm fine."

"I know…" she nodded, "I also know you well enough to know that you still love him…and vice versa…just done put it off too long okay? He might not stick around for ever if he thinks you're moving on."

Wise words from the scary fashion lady, "Thank you V." I muttered, squeezing her hand as Gabriel moved slightly, already drifting off into a sleep. "Anyway…are you enjoying yourself?"

"Surprisingly…yes," I laughed, holding out my glass as she refilled it, then her own, "Usually I stick to the formal events where there are press and I'm surrounded by business…but this is strangely…comfortable." She didn't like intimate events where everyone knew everyone…no she liked being able to talk about business and network and be surrounded in people who knew all about 'the next Marc Jacobs collection' etc. I was glad she was having fun though.

"Good, I'm glad."

The others came back then, laden with hot dogs; I spotted one without sauce and Caroline handed it to me with a smile, saying casually, "He missed that one out without asking." I scowled at her but she gave me one of those innocent looks before talking to Vera. Damn her.

**-Damon's POV-**

Truth be told I felt a little like a stalker, but I honestly couldn't keep my eyes off her. She looked incredible…definitely different from the last time I'd seen her; not necessarily worse or better, just different. Some would say I sounded like a desperate man, but I was…I would do anything to get her back…religiously starting now.

My thoughts were interrupted when her friend, the scary redhead, appeared next to me. She was pretty…in a sort of stern, business-woman way…not my type but apparently Elijah's, "You're Damon; I don't believe we've met." Yes, business-woman, definitely. She held out her hand and I shook it with a smile, "Vera Castellanos, Elena's friend."

"She mentioned you." I could tell already they were completely different…but they were friends…somehow.

"We've been friends for a long time…and I think it's my duty to tell you that if you screw with her I will hurt you. You're probably going to be getting back together someday soon but just remember." I couldn't help but smile, just picking up on the reunion. If her scary best friend thinks so… "I'm serious Damon, I was there to pick up the pieces last time so don't you dare do it again."

At that I frowned, not completely understanding, "What do you mean?" I remember Elena saying last night that she'd gone through a few phases afterwards but to be honest that was pretty vague.

"I mean when you cheated on her and you broke up." She said coldly, "She wasn't exactly at the top of her game after that. So what I'm saying, is that if I ever get a call in the early hours from some random club saying that my wasted friend needs picking up because she's gone and drowned herself in alcohol to stop the memories…I'll blame you. You're already on my bad list…it's not a good place to be."

**-Elena's POV-**

By eight o'clock it was starting to get dark and the kids had been put to bed. I was on the patio, just having turned out their light when Caroline yelled at me to put on the music. I smiled; running inside to grab my iPod, going to the huge speakers placed on the patio and plugged it in, my summer playlist coming on. Pressing play on Bombay Bicycle Club's 'Magnet' and turned to face my bouncy blonde friend who, at the first few beats, jumped up and pointed at me with a faux-stern look on her face. "Now it's decision time. Which one will stay which one will say goodbye…?" Oh here we go. I sometimes didn't believe that she had the ability to be embarrassed; the way she was dancing over I just shook my head, incapable of not laughing.

"Care you're mental."

"And proud!" She yelled, whipping her hair around as more people got up and started dancing to the loud music. This was the time in the evening where the 'adults' (like we weren't) made their way inside and our lovely generation took over.

It wasn't long later that I went inside again for a moment to go get jumpers for Bonnie and me from my room. Halfway down the stairs I froze in shock, seeing the two people by the front door. I didn't recognize her but her arms where wrapped around his neck as they kissed. I almost felt sick at the sight…he said he wasn't seeing anyone…I had no right to be angry or jealous. He lied to me…why did he keep lying to me? Why the fuck were my eyes watering right now, I quickly blinked away the tears just as he seemed to notice someone else's presence and pushed her abruptly away, staring at me in horror. I forced my legs into action and rushed down the stairs, not looking at him a second more as I made my way back out to the garden, biting my lip to stop myself from crying. I heard him shout my name but I ignored him, déjà vu hitting me full force.

I handed Bonnie one of the jumpers without stopping, again ignoring her shout and heading towards the edge of the party. At the end of the garden there was a thin group of trees before it opened out to a small stream where we'd placed a bench years back. It was all overgrown now but it was quiet and there was no-one around. That only lasted a minute, in which the moisture escaped from my eyes, then I heard him again, quickly wiping it away, "Elena-"

Spinning around I saw him standing just five or so metres away, a look of guilt and pain on his face as he watched me, "Go away."

"No, Lena listen to me, let me explain."

"Piss off Damon I don't want to talk to you." I really didn't…not now. I just needed five minutes to gather myself…maybe a bit longer…then I could go back to the party. I could try to pretend like it didn't hurt even more.

"No." He repeated, "Lena she's-"

I cut him off, "-You told me you weren't seeing anyone." I said, sounding completely pathetic in my head but I couldn't even care about that right now, "I just…you could have told the truth, you didn't need to lie." I said bitterly, looking away for a moment.

"What…no…Lena I'm not seeing anyone-" I scoffed and shook my head, not wanting to hear it. He'd been kissing her back…I knew he had been…he was lying, "That girl…I slept with her a few times…mindless, emotionless fucking about two years ago." Nice way to put it, "She's a little obsessive and insists that I'm in love with her. Elena I feel _nothing_ for her, I promise you." It was the type of thing a boyfriend would say…

I didn't reply, just clenching my jaw together because I was sure I was still on the verge of tears for whatever ridiculous reason. "I know I don't have the right to be angry or…whatever." I said finally, looking up at him and I knew I didn't need to finish that sentence. The silent 'but I am' was pretty loud and clear. He didn't reply and I looked away again, walking the little way to the bench before a thought hit me and I spun back round, "Why didn't you come to New York?"

"Sorry?"

"After I left. You knew I was making a mistake, you knew I didn't know the whole story…so why didn't you call? Why didn't you come to New York?" I stopped when my voice began to tremble a little and I looked away again, unable to look into his eyes because I knew I'd break, "You just let me go. I thought you'd at least try-"My voice broke and I turned my back to him, quickly wiping away the escaping tears.

I didn't hear him approaching but then I felt his hand on my shoulder, shooting warmth and shivers through my back, "Lena-"

"If you'd come and you'd explained then everything would have been so much easier." I muttered, turning and stepping back a little, letting his hand fall away, "I would have forgiven you in a day if you'd tried but you didn't."

"I didn't think you'd want to see me…and I did call once but someone else picked up-"

"Oh for god's sake Damon! You're Damon fucking Salvatore you not meant to care! If you honestly want something you go and take it, if you want to see someone then you go and see them whether they want to or not! That's the Damon I know."

He looked surprised at my outburst for a moment, then spoke, "So what are you trying to say? That I didn't care enough to go and get you back?"

"Yes."

Now that seemed to shock him. In the silence that followed I don't think he knew what to say…then, "Well then you're an idiot." I clenched my teeth together, quietly relieved that he hadn't agreed, "Elena you know how much I loved you." Another cut at the tense, "You know I would have done anything for you." And again…did he not realise how much it hurt? "I didn't go to New York and drag you back because I knew I'd hurt you and I knew you wouldn't want to see me. I didn't want to make it worse. Caroline and Bonnie told me to leave you alone so I did."

Without a word I started walking back through the trees, turning back just as he began to call after me, cutting him off before he could say anything, "Well you made it worse by not coming. Yes I forgave you for cheating…but it took five years."

He frowned, stopping short at that, "So what's the problem then?"

"The problem is that I can't trust you! And I hate that but it's the truth and I don't know what the hell to do about it." I looked down, not wanting to see the look on his face, instead just mumbling some excuse to get away before stumbling over the roots back the party.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I've had a few reviews about the morals of this story and I completely understand…I guess my only excuse is that I did write it over a long period of time and I admit, I completely forgot about the rape in the first chapter which I don't think I've read since I wrote it. So I am very sorry if it makes it all less believable…I will try and make amendments but I've already written and finished up to about the tenth chapter so the plot's kind of set…I do hope you'll all continuing reading and I apologize for the poor story-line. **

**Bad Blood – Chapter Five**

I didn't want to wake up in the morning. The idea of facing the day made me feel ill. A raging headache was burning away in my head and there was a pounding in my ears so I decided that the only cure was to pull the duvet over my head, curl up into a little ball and drift off again. My plans didn't last for long…they never did. It couldn't have been more than half an hour later that I heard the door open and soft pattering footsteps on the hardwood floor. A moment later the duvet was pulled back to reveal the huge blue eyes of my nephew.

"Hey G." I murmured with a scratchy voice, thankful that he was too young to acknowledge morning breath…it wouldn't be good.

He grinned a toothy smile before hopping into the bed and snuggling down, still in his little pyjama onesie with little cars all over it. I smiled, pulling him close and bringing the duvet back over us. He giggled quietly at the little tent that formed and I buried my face into the back of his neck, falling back to sleep quickly. The next time I woke was when Jenna brought in a mug of tea. She just laughed at the sight of me and her baby son curled up. He was still snoring away, always a deep sleeper…lucky bugger. "What's wrong Len?" She sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed and pushing my hair out of my face, "Wow you're hot." She said suddenly with a frown, pressing her hand against my forehead, "You've got a temperature…what's wrong?"

I shrugged, shivering a little as the breeze from the open window hit me. I hated being ill, especially the hot and coldness, like now I felt freezing but five minutes ago I was boiling…then before that was the cold sweat which is never pleasant, "Headache." I muttered, pushing myself slowly up into a sitting position, "And I guess a temperature." I quipped but any attempt at humour fell flat on its face.

The tea was greatly appreciated; I could feel the warmth flooding through my veins, "I'll go find you some painkillers. But first, bear with the pain and tell me what happened with Damon last night?" I closed my eyes and sighed, giving her a pleading look, "No…you're going to tell me. You're not getting painkillers until you tell me."  
"You're a cruel woman." I said with a scowl, "We had a little…chat…which wasn't altogether helpful." By the look on her face she clearly needed more than that, "I caught him kissing some girl in the hall and didn't take it all too well." Her eyes shot wide but I carried on, "He followed me and…yeah we talked a little."

"Oh Elena…"

"I just…I shouldn't still love him…it's stupid, I should hate him! But I can't and I'm pissed off at him but I still love him…" We both stopped as the words came out of my mouth and my hand immediately clamped over my lips to shut me up…everyone knew it, but I'd hadn't actually admitted it yet.

She was quiet for a good few minutes before speaking, "Well at least you're admitting it now…" she mused, a small smile on her face and I scowled at her unhelpfulness. "Sorry…the girl he was with…that was probably Andie Starr…she's completely obsessed with him. I feel bad because she was my friend and I introduced them…not anymore though…she's a little crazy."  
I smiled at her rant and nodded, "It's fine…I just freaked out a little…seeing him with someone else. But I'll deal with it…get used to it."

She raised an eyebrow and gave me one of those looks like 'you're such an idiot', "Yeah like you'll have to." Another stabbing pain in my head shut me up before I could reply and she stood up, "Right, those painkillers. Relax…I'll make you some soup in a bit." I muttered a thank you and she left me to it. Vera came in twenty minutes later with the pills and a bowl of my favourite chicken noodle soup. She stayed for a while but then left me to sleep. I felt kind of bad spending my last day here lying in bed and sleeping but the one time I'd attempted to stand up I'd actually blacked out. What the hell was wrong with me was a mystery…I'd never had a headache quite this bad before…

I didn't get up again, rather just fell asleep and when I next woke up it was morning and our flight was taking off in nine hours. We said our goodbyes to Caroline, Bonnie and everyone else in the morning, aiming to be at the airport around one o'clock since take off was at three. I spent most of the time wondering whether or not to go and see Damon or whether he might actually come and say goodbye…he knew we were leaving today. I wanted to go…but somehow I felt like I couldn't.

At midday our taxi arrived to take us on the hour long journey to Richmond, then to New York City. I think it was about time to get back to the real world but I truly did love it here. I'd love it more if the headache went completely rather than just easing off for a few hours then coming back.

He come and say goodbye. Nor did he call or text. I didn't want to leave at that though so I told Jenna to tell him that I said goodbye. It hurt more than I would admit but I could almost understand it…almost.

It had been a month since we got back to the city and I'd spent only three of them altogether at work. The other, although spread out, was spent taking much needed sick days. Vera insisted that if I got one more headache she was taking me to her doctor…her very important, high ranking doctor. I kept telling her I was fine but this was weird and I had a niggling sensation that something was wrong. I wasn't usually ill and I had noticed I'd been losing weight for no reason…maybe it was just stress.

She'd just left for work, leaving me for my last sick day before being dragged to see Dr. Heath. I fully intended to spend the day sleeping and watching crappy movies as I had the previous days. My boss wasn't entirely happy about my poor attendance and told me to go to the doctors and that something better wrong with me…or else (well that last bit wasn't actually said). He really was a lovely guy. Then I had to call Jones, not appreciating all the time spent with people yapping loudly in my ears…I wasn't usually so irritable but everything was so loud. He was certainly enjoying the time off…I think he'd found a girlfriend in my absence but no matter how much I pestered him he wouldn't give anything away…such good friends we were.

It was just gone two o'clock when the doorbell rang and I let out a long, frustrated sigh. All I wanted was to watch Toy Story in peace…was that so impossible. It rang again and I winced, calling out in my most annoyed voice that I was coming, heading toward the door, holding onto things for balance and wrapping the massive thick-knit jumper around me as I spoke (lion slippers on my feet of course). The flat felt freezing, hence the heavy duty winter pyjamas that covered every inch of me.

The sight that greeted me was certainly not one I'd been expecting. There…in the hallway…was Damon Salvatore.

Damon Salvatore was in New York…

New York…

Damon…holy crap.

"Wow…" was the first thing I managed.

He smirked, looking me up and down, "I get that a lot." Cocky bastard.

"What are you doing here?"

"That not so much…" I rolled my eyes and smiled a little, leaning against the door jamb and squinting a little in the bright light that burned my eyes. All the curtains were drawn in the apartment and the lights were off, the TV's brightness turned right down so I'd basically been in the nice, comfortable dark all day. "I came to see you…finally. Took a day off and flew over. Five years too late I know but-"

"You came all this way-"Maybe it was the headache…maybe it was the lack of activity, but I honestly couldn't piece all this together in my head.

He smirked and nodded, "Yeah,"

"To see me…"

Another nod, slower like he was talking to a dumb child, "Not completely with it are you?"

I scowled at him, "Shut up I'm ill." His eyebrow raised at that in surprise and concern flashed across his face so I moved on quickly, "Do you want to come in? If you've come all this way?" At that the smirk returned and he nodded so I stepped aside to let him pass, clicking the door shut behind me. "Sorry about the darkness…"

"Are you watching Toy Story?"

"Yes, shush." He was just going to take the piss out of me…as per usual. The headache was easing off a little now so I wasn't so dizzy; no doubt it'd come back full force in a matter of minutes. "Do you want a drink? We've got every kind of tea you can imagine and a coffee machine…" I said, making my way to the kitchen as he followed.

"Sure, just regular…builders tea." I didn't even need to ask; dash of milk and half a sugar…he was picky like that. I started boiling the kettle and I'd just reached up to get the tea bags when the throbbing rammed into me and I winced, dropping the bag, my hand clamping over my temples. In under a second he was next to me, a hand on my shoulder, guiding me to the bar stool a few feet away, "Whoa…sit down and I'll make it. What's wrong with you Len?"

I didn't reply for a moment, pushing a hand through my hair, only succeeding in making it even messier, "Headache…migraine, I don't know. You're the brain doc."

"Have you been to see a doctor?" he asked, that concerned frown on his face and for a few moments I found I'd completely forgotten about the past five years and we were together again…how was that possible?

"No…Vera said one more headache and she's dragging me down there. It's probably just stress…though works been fine. I don't know what I could have been stressed about…you're the only stressful thing in my life right now."

At that his eyebrow raised and I sighed…probably shouldn't have said that, "Well that's good to know." He almost seemed pleased that I cared enough, "Go see your doctor." It was more of an order than a request.

"Caveman." I muttered which he just laughed at.

"How long have you been having headaches?"

"About a month…see! It is your fault! Since the last time I saw you."

He didn't look wholly impressed, "At least I have some sort of effect on you still. Come on, you go sit on the sofa, I'll make tea. Do you want some?"

I nodded before standing up and slowly making my way back to my cave, holding onto things for balance. Damn bright spots flashing around my head…I hated this. I doubted Damon could even see me when he came over with the tea; I was so far under the massive duvet. I heard him laugh, then my feet god picked up on the other end of the sofa, he sat down and placed them over his legs, quietly massaging them like he always used to when I got ill or had a rough day. It was so comforting…just having him here; but we couldn't just ignore everything.

I left it a while before speaking, continuing to focus all my attention on the muted film (the volume was always too loud and I knew what was going on anyway), "Why didn't you say goodbye? When we left?"

"I don't know." Great answer.

I looked at him with a frown on my face, "Seriously?"

"Sorry."

I sat up and stared at him, not sure what to say so I figured repeating myself was my best option, "_Seriously_!"

He almost looked amused, "Seriously. I had a stupid moment…"

Speechless…I was completely speechless. "Damon…" attempt two, "I don't mean this like I know you're going to think I mean it…I genuinely want to know and I want you to give me the absolute, honest to god truth…" He waited expectantly and I took a minute to form my next words, not finding anyway to make them sound right, "_Do_ you care?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you **_**Deb200**_** for your reviews…the encouragement was needed **

**Bad Blood – Chapter Six**

'_Do you care?"_

I don't think he knew what to say. _I_ wouldn't know what to say if the roles were reversed. It was kind of a harsh question. There was just complete shock on his face, and then a slight glint of anger in his eyes, disbelief and hurt…hurt like he was insulted by my question.

He stood up suddenly, forgetting that my legs were on him and I jolted, wincing before righting myself in a sitting position and watching him pace, "It's just-"

He cut me off, spinning to face me and shaking his head, "It's just what? You ask if I care. Elena I fucking loved you for four years…longer than that. And you're asking whether or not I care…I don't even know how to begin answering that."

I frowned, not appreciating his shouting but tried to ignore the painful throbbing in my head and the lights dancing around in my eyes, "Well you don't anymore…it's just a question. You can't blame me for asking."

"I don't what anymore?" he looked genuinely confused for a moment and I let out a sigh.

"Love me."

Silence.

Then…"Where the fuck did you get that from?"

Que?

He was looking at me like I was delusional and I wondered if I'd been wrong…but no, I couldn't be, "Past tense. You said it yourself…many times." He didn't understand, "You say you _loved_ me for however many years or whatever…not love. So past tense…you don't anymore." He didn't reply, completely lost it seemed, "So all I want to know is whether or not you care. Because you didn't come to get me back last time and this time you let me go again." I wasn't being irrational…it was a valid question.

"You're such an idiot."

Thank you…?

He was just about to say something else when a loud ringing tore through the apartment and I winced, clamping my hands over my ears and biting my lip…why did it hurt so frikkin much! He whipped out his phone and pressed it to his ear, "Salvatore." That was his new greeting now, "I'm on my way." Short call. He hung up and spent a few more minutes watching me before speaking, "I will call you, when you're not delirious or being utterly stupid. Clearly that headache is affecting your brain and making you completely irrational." With that he headed to the door and I stood, baffled by this turn of events.

"Damon-"

"Get better. Rest…go see your doctor. And never ask me whether or not I care about you or love you again because I do and I always will." The angry sentence was punctuated by the door slamming behind him, leaving me standing there in absolute shell shock…what the hell just happened?

However much he should do it, I would have gone after him but for whatever reason, the pain in my head got so bad then that I barely made it to the toilet fast enough. And that was how Vera found me about an hour later, having come home early that day. Throwing up became a pretty regular, although completely sudden thing. Then there were other little things that I didn't really notice for a while that it seemed I had had for while…like I realised one day that my sense of smell was completely off…as in Vera asked me to smell the milk to see if it was okay and I said sure…it was completely rancid. The time she didn't spend looking after me she spent on the computer looking up everything there was to know about headaches. Later that night she came into my room and sat on the side of my bed, replacing the cold towel on my forehead and I couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic this all way, "So I've got a best case scenario and a worst case scenario…which one do you want to hear first?"

"Best. Anything that causes this much pain isn't going to be nice." I muttered with a small smirk, rolling onto my side to face her.

"Okay…best is you're overstressed and are getting migraines because of it. In which case you just need to take some aspirin, go to the doctor and eventually they'll stop."

"I'm not stressed. I've barely been at work and it's not the most stressful job; I enjoy it." That rules out the best case, "What about the worst?"

She didn't say anything for a moment, then, "Worst case scenario that I could find…you have a brain tumour. Meaning brain cancer…meaning operations and danger and the possibility that you could die." Now what was I to say to that? I just rolled over onto my back again and looked up at the ceiling…

"Right…"

"Or an aneurism. It could be one of those too."

"So either cancer or a time bomb in my brain…that's great…really fabulous." I quipped, "So I'm going to the doctors tomorrow. I think that's a good idea. And they'll tell me its stress…because I don't have cancer and I'd know if I had a time bomb in my head." No, neither of them could be remotely true.

But maybe they were…that was the expression on her face…a nervousness that I don't remember ever seeing there before and it made me anxious. Vera was always the strong one telling me to get my shit together and go to work, to suck it up. That's how we worked…this didn't help, "You want me to come with you?"

"No…I'll be fine. I promise you it'll be nothing. I'll call you after and we can laugh about our drama-queen-ness tomorrow over a glass of wine."

She laughed quietly and nodded in agreement, "Sure, sounds perfect." She stood up with a smile on her face but as she turned to leave I saw it slip away, the façade falling off both our faces when neither of us would notice…because maybe it wouldn't be okay.

The following day I did go to the doctors which took a ridiculous amount of time. First the doctor wrote it off as stress (as I had said), then he'd insisted on taking a load of blood tests and even went as far as to stick me in an x-ray…ridiculous. I went along with it just in case and when they finally did release me, feeling better now I was filled with painkillers, I headed to work. It didn't take a long time to get there from the surgery but when I did I almost immediately got called in by my boss, Mick Tomlinson. He was lovely and I'd managed to slip in as one of his favourites somehow…but he didn't like people taking time off. He really didn't like it…

I entered his office, peeking cautiously around the door and wincing as I spotted him sitting at his desk, a stern look on his face. "Come in Ms Gilbert, take a seat." He was also a little intimidating at times… I did as he asked, perching on the edge of the hard 'made for appearance' type seat, knee bouncing restlessly as he knitted his fingers together in a steeple and stared at me for a terrifying few minutes. For a moment I was sure I was going to get fired, "You've been taking a lot of time off this month Gilbert."

Scary man, "Yes…I have…I've been a bit ill." It sounded so stupid…oh, sorry, I couldn't come to work, I had a headache. He'd probably assume that I just had a hangover because according to him _everyone_ under the age of 25 spent their life drinking and frolicking around in bars and clubs.

His eyebrow rose slowly…always made me flinch. I felt like I was being told off by my old headmaster, "Ill? Are you healthy now?"

"I don't know…I just got really bad migraines…I could hardly walk let alone come to work and if I tried…well I was a sick occasionally. But you don't need to know that," See…when I was nervous I rambled which is exactly what I was doing now, "I went to the doctors this morning, I should know what's up tomorrow. Sorry…" What I was apologizing for I wasn't entirely sure…perhaps the excessive information or the time off…

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly before he broke the stern face into a small smile, "No need to be so nervous Gilbert. That's fine, I just wanted to know. I hope you feel better and I hope there's nothing seriously wrong; you're a great asset to the company." At that I blinked in surprise and blushed a little…that was nice. "That leads on to the other reason I called you in here. Of course you're aware of the charity gala coming up at the end of next month. I wanted to ensure that you will be attending…?"

Oh crap I'd completely forgotten about that. It was one of those elaborate displays of wealth that all the big companies did every year…this one was in aid of the charity Invisible Children. They were always incredibly successful. But my only issue with going to them was that we, as employees, were not only expected to be there, but we were also expected to have dates. It felt like one of those company couple retreats…your boss meets your boyfriend or your husband or fiancé…whatever…it's not fun. Especially when Kate Rendell, my main competition, had just got engaged to a lawyer…a very good lawyer. The last one I'd been single as well so I took Chris (I had more than one friend in New York…I did) then had to explain that he wasn't my boyfriend…not fun.

"Oh…of course, I'll be there." I said with a noticeable lack of genuine enthusiasm, though I did try.

He looked pleased, "Good, and perhaps this time we'll meet an actual boyfriend?"

I bit my lip, "Urm…maybe…we'll have to see." He liked to know the people we were going out with; the people he considered his best employees that is. I guess it was networking and also those paternal instincts kicking in where he wanted to make sure they weren't complete psychos. There were too many paternal figures in my life…I just needed one and that one was not present.

"I look forward to it." He said with a smile, checking the time on his huge silver Rolex, "And with that, I must get to my next meeting." I nodded, jumping to my feet in relief, "Hope you do feel better soon Gilbert."

"Thank you sir, "I muttered, letting another silence past before saying a goodbye and taking my queue to leave, letting out a long sigh as I escaped. How the hell was I meant to find myself a respectable, relatively wealthy, funny, successful man in a month? Was that even possible? Maybe it was time for me to give in and get myself an eHarmony account…no…no I wouldn't surrender!

Jones was sitting at my desk in my smallish office, on my computer, his suit jacket slung over the back of the fat leather spin-chair and bopping his head along to the music spilling out of the speakers. I recognized it as 'Harder Than You Think' by Public Enemy and couldn't help but laugh. His head snapped up and he froze on seeing me, a guilty look on his face as he slowly reached across and turned off the music, "Jones what are you doing?"

"I _was_ working…I promise you." He insisted, pointing at the work on the screen and the stack of drafts in front of him.

I walked over to the desk, ushering for him to move with my hands and he seemed to remember that he was still sitting at my desk, jumping up and standing next to the desk, "Sorry…"

"Chill Jones, I'm not going to kill you."

He gave a faux-sarcastic smile, grabbing his jacket and chucking it on the chair opposite the glass–topped desk before sitting down, "How was the doctors?"

I shrugged, signing into my e-mail and frowning at my full inbox, "Fine…fine; a few tests…should know the results tomorrow or something. Currently doped up on painkillers and ready to work. Hey how do you know my password?"

He raised an eyebrow, giving me one of those disparaging looks, "You turned it on before you went to see the boss…left it on." Oh…didn't normally do that. "And the reason I do know all your passwords is because I've been working for you for quite a long time now and you write them all down on post-its." He pointed towards the four-digit code on a red post-it stuck to the lamp on the desk, "That's the alarm code to your flat."

"Alright! Smug bastard." He grinned happily and I shot him a scowl. "Go do some work." I told him, letting a small smile slip through as I turned to my computer, opening the first email. He rolled his eyes and stood up, heading towards the door while muttering something about Nazi's… "I heard that!" He just replied with a charming, innocent little smile. Jackass.

By the time the clock was reaching five, the official end of the day, the painkillers were fading off and I was spending more and more time with my head in my hands, massaging my temples with my eyes clamped shut to try and hide the flashing colours. I didn't even hear the door open, just suddenly feeling someone else's presence and looking up to find Jones there, setting a glass of water and two little white pills on the desk top. I said a quiet thank you and swallowed the pills down, giving him a grateful smile before he nodded and left again. He really was the best…like then he knew me, I didn't have to ask. He somehow knew exactly when I needed coffee or painkillers. Although the coffee was more of a scheduled delivery. Now what would I do without little Jonsie


	7. Chapter 7

**Just as a side note, I just went back and changed their ages because they were a little unrealistic **** So Elena is 25 and Damon's 27…the rest don't really matter. So if there are any errors I'm sorry. **

**Bad Blood – Chapter Seven**

The Vogue offices in New York were at the very top of the Conde Nast Building; huge and glassy. The interior was all white, so the many models and fabulous looking dogsbodies running around the place it didn't seem real. I'd been here a few times before to visit Vera and it always reminded me of Runway in 'The Devil Wears Prada'…I half expected to turn around and see Meryl Streep gliding towards me.

The receptionist at the huge white circular desk just beyond the glass wall between the office and the lifts was talking at a superhuman speed into a white earpiece. I hovered patiently, glancing up at the big silver sign above her stating clearly where you were…not that you'd forget. I always felt completely inadequate here, whatever I wore. Currently in some skin tight black skinny jeans and a sheer white shirt with a black collar, cuffs and button hem, a black leather jacket with a sheep skin collar and some four inch block heeled boots. I looked fine…but this was Vogue. I'd just dressed normally for work, with the thought of going to the doctors surgery in mind. That's where I'd spent my morning; hearing the results and talking to the doctors.

The blonde receptionist looked up at me with an impatient look on her face and I spoke quickly, "Hey, I'm here to see Vera Castellanos…I don't have an appointment…"

"Sign this." Whoa scary lady. I sighed the form she gave me, recognising it as the signing in form, "You know where to go?"

"Yeah, thanks."

I'd already started moving but apparently not fast enough, "Quickly!" Jesus Christ…

For the first time, I didn't get any weird looks or people asking me why I was here this time…maybe I actually blended in for once. I got a little lost at one point but asked the nicest looking person I could find and within ten minutes I was knocking on the glass door of my dear friend. She was sitting at her desk and looked up when she saw me, a flash of fear crossing her face before she motioned for me to come in, "Lena, hey, how did it go? What's wrong with you?"

I smiled at all the questions and sat down in the chairs opposite her desk. The pain was still there but I'd taken a load of aspirin so it was numbed down, "Two guesses."

She frowned, "Stress…please say stress." I shook my head and more fear ran over her face, "Oh god…an aneurism?"

"Nope."

At that her face crumpled, knowing the last option and she dropped her head into hands, "Fuck…tumour?"

I gave a sad smile and nodded. Why I wasn't upset by the news was a wonder to me…surely I should be breaking down and screaming that my life was over. But it wasn't…and I wasn't. She was doing that for me; I saw her eyes fill with tears and I sighed, reaching over the table and grabbing her hands, "It's okay V…trust me it'll be okay."

"How can you say that? You have a brain tumour! Oh my god-!" Vera didn't cry…I did not want to see Vera cry…damn it she was crying.

I stood up and circled the desk, pulling her into a hug before kneeling in front of her, holding her hands in her lap, "V listen to me…it's going to be absolutely fine. It's not cancer…they made me have all these tests and even an x-ray…very exciting; you can imagine…all very Grey's Anatomy. It's a benign tumour…meaning nor malignant…cancerous. I am not going to die; you won't get rid of me that easy."

She looked relieved at that but still sad, "Thank god…but what are you going to do?"

"Get it cut out I guess…anything to stop these headaches." I said with a smile, trying to cheer her up a little. I don't think it worked too successfully, "V it's going to be okay. You won't have to find a new flat mate."

No that didn't work either; rather it just made it worse. I earned myself a feeble slap on my shoulder for that one, "Don't say things like that! I know everyone thinks I'm an ice queen but you're one of my best friends and I don't know what I'd do without you so don't say stupid things like that-"

"Alright! Chill, I'll keep quiet. Do you want to get Chinese tonight? Comfort food…or I could make chilli…?"

She stared at me for a moment with a baffled expression on her face, "Elena how are you so normal? Surely you should be the one upset…no…you're offering to cook dinner."

I shrugged, nodding and standing up again, "No point acting like my life's over when it isn't. And I like cooking…it's fun." She didn't understand clearly but gave up and chose the chilli option. "I'm going to go home and call Jenna and Jeremy…then go sleep some more and do some work. What time will you be back?"

"Okay…I think quite late tonight…around seven. We have a big edition out in two days…you know what it's like. Don't work too much though…"

"Nah I just have some things to write up and some emails to send…not much. Mick's given Kate Rendell the big project this month since I've been away so much. I don't mind…I wouldn't have done it well anyway." She nodded, looking over as someone knocked on her door and she quickly wiped away her slightly running makeup (she was perhaps the only person I knew that looked perfectly fine after a little cry…damn her). I smiled at the cautious looking girl with the massive folder in her arms and looked back at my friend, "I'll leave you to it…see you at home."

"Yeah, sure…take loads of aspirin…sleep...I refilled the Ben and Jerry's shelf in the freezer the other day so you should be fine." Yes we had a whole shelf in the medium sized freezer solely dedicated to Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Everyone should have one.

"Yes'sir…see you later." I smiled, giving a mock salute before leaving the office. I hailed a taxi outside her building and was home in under half an hour. Once there I took more pills, feeling the pain building again. I gave the medicine a little while to kick in before picking up the phone and laptop and burying myself in my bed. The question was who to call first…or perhaps both at the same time…I remember Jeremy mentioning that he'd be going back for a while. So with that in mind I sent him a text to ask and within ten minutes he'd replied affirmative. Thank god…I only had to do it once.

Sitting up and making myself as presentable as possible, I opened my computer and Skype, selecting Jenna and video calling. A few rings and she answered, her face popping up in the screen with a happy but surprised smile on her face. I could tell she was sitting in the living room on the sofa, the front door and stairs visible behind her.

"Lennie! Hey!" She exclaimed, kneeling down on the floor in front of the computer set on the coffee table.

"Hey Jen, how are you?"

She shrugged, picking up a glass of wine and showing it to me with a smile, "I'm great, the kids are out at parties and I have no work to do. This hasn't happened to me in a very long time." I couldn't help but laugh and nodded, understanding perfectly. "So what's up? You don't normally Skype…in fact you don't even call that much…what's up?" I bit my lip and pulled my knees up to my chest, looking down at the chipped red nail varnish on my toes, "Oh god…you're not pregnant are you?"

My head snapped up in surprise, "What? No! I'm not-no!"

Just then another voice piped up at the other end of the line, "Who's pregnant?" My older brother appeared on the screen behind her and I sighed, "Elena- what the hell! You're not are you-"  
"No. I promise you, I am not pregnant." They both seemed reassured at that, "But I'm glad you're there too…I do have some news that you both need to know…" he frowned and sat down on the sofa, both waiting and clearly confused, "But first you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not Caroline or Bonnie or Stefan and Katherine…no one."

"Alright, we promise. What is it? Are you okay?"

I didn't say anything for a moment, wondering what their reactions would be and how to break it to them… "Don't freak out okay?...I have…" No…attempt number two coming up, "I-…" Why was this so hard?!

"Elena what's wrong? Tell us." He'd always been a little overprotective…he was going to flip a table.

"I have a brain tumour."

Their expressions said it all. I actually winced at the expression on Jeremy face. Shock…fear…terror…pain…

Jenna was the first to collect herself, shaking her head slightly, "I'm sorry…I don't think I heard you right…say it again."

My shoulders dropped a little at that, "Jenna you did. I went to the doctors…I've been having these really bad migraines. It turns out I have a tumour on my brain…" I looked at Jeremy then and my resolve broke down a little when I saw the tell-tale glint of moisture in his eyes, hands pressed against his mouth, "Jer-"

He spoke suddenly but his voice quiet and shaky, even through the slightly dodgy line, "Are you telling me that you have brain cancer…through Skype?"

"What? No…no, no, no! I do not have cancer!" Oh god I didn't want them to think that at all! "Jeremy I don't have cancer and if I did I would certainly tell you in person. It's a benign tumour…not cancerous…just annoying." He shook his head and looked down, choking a little and I saw a tear fall down his hands, instantly freaking out a little at the sight of my brother crying, one I hadn't seen since before I reached double figures. "Jeremy don't…I'm fine! Seriously it's nothing!"

Perhaps not the best thing to say…at least he didn't take it too well. Even just being an image on a screen I jumped as he stood up suddenly and disappeared from the picture for a moment, returning in a minute with a now angry upset look on his face, "It's not nothing Elena, don't say it's fucking _nothing_!" he yelled, ignoring Jenna's attempt to calm him down.

"But it is! I'm not dying, I just get headaches…I just get it cut out and I'm perfectly normal again. This happens to people all the time."

I could tell exactly how pissed off he was and how much he wanted to punch something from the way his fists were clenched and his jaw was locked. I gave it a minute before he stormed off and he sure didn't disappoint. I heard the sound of the front door slamming shut and winced, "Give him a minute Len…you know what he's like."

"Yeah I know…but really…I know it sounds awful and all but you need to tell him it's not that bad. I mean sure it's bad luck and it's not completely risk free but nothing is going to happen. I'm not going to die." She looked away at that, blinking rapidly and I sighed, unable to do anything right and feeling completely useless, "Jenna I'm not going to die."

"I know…you better not." The shaky voice took most of the sincerity out of her warning but I nodded and gave a small smile, "I'll talk to him, but you have to understand that it isn't easy for me to hear let alone him." From her expression I knew she wanted to say something but didn't know how. Eventually she formed the words, "Speaking of…have you told Damon yet?" How did I not guess? "I know he's not exactly your favourite person in the world but I think you should tell him…"

"No…Jenna I haven't…He came up last week though…before I found out that is."

"Oh? What happened?"

I shrugged, playing with the silver chain tied around my ankle, "Not much…just another talk..." It seemed she understood exactly what I was trying to not say.

"Right I get it…"

I glanced up at the screen for a moment, then rested my chin on my knee and let out a groan, "Urgh I wish this wasn't so difficult. Not the whole brain tumour thing…that's fine. What I mean is Damon! It's complicated with him and I hate it."

"I understand…but just think about it Elena. Imagine if you were going to have this surgery and not tell him…he finds out in a few months that you had a brain tumour and didn't think…or chose not, to tell him…he'd be gutted and hurt way beyond you were five years ago. You do realise that don't you…?"

Well I hadn't actually thought of it yet, "I suppose so…but how? I can't exactly call him and tell him. But then I don't think I can go all the way to California to tell him…"

"Why not?"

Her question surprised me and I frowned at her like it was obvious, "Because he lives in California! That's the other side of the country."

"He came over to see you."

I sighed, knowing where she was going with this. "Yes he did." That was all I could think to say for a moment.

"He also happens to be a neurosurgeon in one of the best hospitals for surgery in the country-"

I cut her off before that thought could go any further, "-No! That man is not going anywhere near my brain!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Bad Blood – Chapter Eight**

Three more days of headaches passed before I bit the bullet and made a completely irrational snap decision. I surely wasn't expecting to put myself on a plane, jetting off to the other side of the continent to see that man who, try as I might to deny this, he was without a doubt the love of my life…I hated that phrase but it seemed to be the only suitable one.

Vera had wanted to come with me but work was so busy for her at the moment and she was working towards a big promotion. I'd actually been given the time off. When I told Mick that the migraines were actually a brain tumour he thought I was joking for a while. Following that he quickly told me to take off as much time as I needed and to get better. I'd called Caroline and Bonnie, and then told them to tell the others because I couldn't keep explaining the same thing. Katherine and Stefan I managed in one call, but then I had to speak to him for a lot longer, being Damon's brother and all. And just like Jenna he told me to tell him in person…hence why I was currently soaring through the air in what was essentially a metal box at 37,000 feet. I didn't not like planes…but they made me nervous and I was already nervous.

Landing in LAX, I got all the way outside without a problem, my only luggage a small gym bag containing a few changes of clothes. Thank god I had talked to Stefan first though because he gave me Damon's address here. He also called him for me, just 'casually chatting to his brother'…you know…no other reason he wanted to know what shifts he was on for the following week…not weird at all. But being a doctor, it wasn't like I could just show up and expect him to be there. I remember Stefan saying Damon's longest shift so far was 36 hours so yes, I made Stefan check for me. I couldn't exactly call…well I could…but I sort of wanted it to be a surprise. And no doubt it would be…we hadn't exactly left it at a point that he'd be expecting me to take a five hour flight across the country to see him.

His apartment was a good hour and a half away from the airport in the middle of the day traffic. Well done me for not packing enough painkillers. And the fact that I hadn't had time to eat didn't help either so I couldn't take too many. Hello pain. By the time I got out of the cab I was dizzy and my vision, although perfectly clear, was painfully bright and pale…if that made sense. I couldn't quite explain it. People probably thought I was drunk as I stumbled towards the tall buildings door, not really taking in its appearance. I silently sent up a prayer as someone else was just leaving and held the door for me, giving me a weird look but I didn't acknowledge it. I needed to sit down.

From what I managed to grasp, the building was quite posh…mainly gathering this from the marble floors in the lobby and the fact that there was a door man and a security guard on the desk…who obviously stopped me.

"Sorry, miss…come here please." The man called and I sighed, forced to take my eyes off my goal and find a new course to the desk which, on reaching, I couldn't help but lean on for fear of falling, "Are you okay?"

"Perfect." I nodded, massively unconvincingly.

"Right…who are you here to see? Sorry, I don't recognize you."

Of course, "Oh…yeah, um…Damon Salvatore…5.32…" At his unconvinced expression I sighed again, "Sir…he doesn't know I'm coming, no…and I'm not drunk, I'm ill and I have a migraine. He is one of my oldest and closest friends" Well it was true, no matter what had happened…he had been five years ago and it seemed that was the only way I was going to get through this barrier, "And I have to talk to him. Can I go up please?"

A little more begging and he finally relented. In my desperation my dignity was diminishing…tongue twister. My thoughts were also very ridiculous. I was not desperate…maybe to sit down and to take a paracetamol, but not to see Damon. I promise I wasn't desperate.

The lift was a strange experience and I was glad it was over when I reached the fifth floor, stepping out onto the wide lush corridor with cream carpets and walls. It was all very stylish…just as I'd thought his place would be. No doubt his flat would be the definition of a bachelor pad. All leather sofas and shades of black and white. I could almost see it in my throbbing head. When I saw the numbers '32' on the non-descript grey door, my vision sort of closed in on it and I suddenly found myself leaning against the wall beside it, reaching out an arm and knocking, semi-aware that he wouldn't be able to see me at first. I was also semi-conscious of the fact that I was acting like a drunken lunatic but that didn't seem to bother me much either.

The door opened, "Hello?" his voice said after a moment, clearly confused at the lack of a person, and then he looked out down the corridor, leaning forward with both hands on the door frame. His eyes shot wide when they landed on me, almost falling but he caught himself at the last minute, "Elena!" I managed a small wave, forcing myself away from the wall a little to stand but he was suddenly in front of me with a shocked and concerned expression on his face, "Fuck, what's wrong with you? Why are you so pale?" All the in-between movements seemed to not happen in my eyes because one second he wasn't touching me, then his hand was on my forehead and the other was on my waist; the only thing really keeping me balanced. "God, you're hot," My fuzzy mind chose then to remember the same words coming out of his mouth in a very different context. Shut up mind.

"I have to talk to you." I managed as his hand on my forehead travelled to my hip, his deepening frown told me he felt how the bone jutted out unnaturally…I'd sure noticed. I looked grim.

"Okay, but first let me get you inside." I allowed that, hardly being given a moment to object before I was, literally, swept off my feet and he was carrying me through the door into the…bachelor pad. Did I not say? The leather sofa he set me down on was exactly what I'd been expecting, "What do you need? Painkillers? Food?"

"Both, food first." I muttered, forgetting my manners completely but he'd done the same to me years back. He used to just turn up, come into my house on his own, whether or not I was there, eat my food…but I used to do the same to him so it was sort of a moot point. He disappeared and returned a second later with a banana, two white pills in the palm of his hand and a glass of water; good enough for me. I finished the fruit first, then swallowed the rest and waited. "Let it kick in then I'll explain." I said quietly, leaning forward to place my forehead on my knees like you do to calm nausea…it was working. I could feel his hand on my head, gently brushing my hair to the side. As I took deep breaths to try and calm…well, everything, his hands moved to my neck, massaging it softly, then further to my shoulders and I let out a quiet moan of contentment.

The took effect faster than anything I'd taken before and eventually I was able to see normally again…I took the opportunity and sat up, brushing my hair out of my face and wincing a little (as I did so often nowadays – my eyes always seemed half shut, squinting against whatever little amount of light that was always too much. It felt like a constant hangover) "Are you going to tell me what's going on now?" I nodded but didn't start speaking, instead taking another sip of water, "You could have called to say you were coming too…I could have picked you up at the airport and driven you here…or to the hospital since that looks like the type of place you should be right now."

"Sorry…surprise; that was the intention."

"Well you certainly succeeded. Start with what's wrong…then why you're here." It was more of a gentle order than a request.

I nodded, blinking a few times, "Well they kind of come hand in hand see…" At that his brow furrowed in question and I began twisting my hands together, like I always did when I was nervous, "For starters can I just apologize for what I said in New York…I know you care, I was just being stupid. So sorry for that…"

"It's fine, Lena you're starting to scare me a little. What's wrong? Why are you nervous and why did I find you outside with the complexion of a white sheet?"

Nice way to put it, "Nervous…because of what I'm about to say…and your reaction. Because you're not going to take it well and you probably won't listen to me after the words leave my mouth so I'm just going to say now, don't freak out on me…"

It seemed a thought came to him and he straightened up a little, a guarded expression on his face, "Wait…you're not-…you're not pregnant are you?"

"No! Why does everyone immediately assume I'm pregnant?!" The relief on his face was more than I'd expected…but then it really shouldn't have been. I couldn't help but wonder what he would do if I was to come to him and tell him that I was having another man's baby…it wouldn't be good. I don't think I could ever do that to him. "Damon I-…I have…"

Oh god why was it so hard to say? The worry was back on his face, "Elena…speak…I don't like the first few words already and I know I'm not going to like the last so just spit it out…"

My brain made a strange decision then and suddenly I was throwing out words, barely understanding them myself, "How are you? How's life? Do you have a girlfriend yet? You probably do…how's work?"

What the hell? I was slightly out of breath, clearly doing anything to not get to the point.

"Elena! Quit it! What is wrong with you?!" He shouted to stop me, setting my frantic mind back on track. "El-"

"I have a brain tumour."

…

His face was completely frozen…in fact his whole body had immediately tensed up at the five short words. A look of pure shock and pain on his face but he didn't move an inch…just staring at me and after what must have been a minute I couldn't take the pressure of the two gorgeous icy pools anymore. My hand moved to rest on his knee, already close where he was sitting opposite me on the edge of the coffee table with our knees almost touching, sitting forwards a little, "Damon say something."

His mouth moved to form words but couldn't seem to find the right ones. Then, "You-"He stopped abruptly, dropping his head for a moment so I couldn't see him properly and I bit my slightly quivering lip.

"Da-"

He pulled his head up again to look at me and I couldn't ignore the pooling tears there. That would be way worse than Jeremy crying…seeing Damon cry would completely break my resolve, "You what?" His voice cracked a little and my hand moved to touch the side of his face without a conscious decision.

"I have a brain tumour." I said again, quieter this time. At the fact was certified his face crumpled and dropped again and I let out a little whimper, completely lost at what to do. My shaking hands both raised to his face, knotting a little in his hair as I felt myself breaking a little, my knee bouncing a little as my incompetence kicked in. "Damon please…don't…please-"It was all I could do, but he didn't react, rather I saw I small crystal of liquid drop and stain his jeans, his shoulders shaking slightly and that was it. I hadn't cried yet…I knew there was no reason to because I would be fine…but I couldn't stand to see Damon like this…I didn't know how to deal with it. I leant forwards and pressed my face to the side of his, resting my forehead on his shoulder as my hand rose to hold the side of his face. Whatever reaction I'd been expecting it certainly wasn't this. He didn't make a sound, but the tears were strong enough to wrack his body and each time I couldn't hold back my own.

I don't know when his arms closed around my waist, or at what stage I pulled him closer until he landed on the sofa. But eventually I found myself lying on the sofa, his arms holding me tight to him around my waist as my head rested on his chest and his hand drew idle figures on the strip of flesh revealed where my top had ridden up from my jeans; my hand on his chest. He didn't say anything for quite a long time though, just stayed like that. Then his head buried in my hair and took a deep breath before speaking, "Is it terminal?"

At the words I frowned, not understanding what he meant for a minute, then I managed to piece it together, pushing myself up onto my elbows to look at him with wide eyes, "No…no that's not it at all. It's not cancer…grade one…it's benign. I'm not dying Damon."

More quiet, relief flooding over his face, "Fuck…thank god." He breathed, looking up then back at me, "Couldn't you have told me that ten minutes ago?"

"Sorry…I keep forgetting." I told him with a guilty smile, reaching one hand up to brush a strand of hair out of his face, "Are you okay now?"

"You have a brain tumour Elena; I'm not going to be okay until it's gone."

I sighed, dropping my head back to its original place and fiddled idly with a button of his shirt, leaving it a while before speaking again, "I didn't know whether or not to call you. I told Jeremy and Jenna on Skype…and called the others in Mystic Falls…you had to be the difficult one, you always are."

"Sorry." He murmured, "You came all the way out here…"

"Well what you do if I called you up and said, 'hey, thought you might like to know, I have a brain tumour.' Damon you would be so pissed off…If you ever did that to me it would hurt more than anything. That was Jenna's logic…it would hurt more than what happened five years ago. And I can't do that to you." I stopped talking and lifted my head again to look at him only to find him looking right back with a surprised look on his face. "What?"

For a few seconds he said nothing, then seemed to shake himself out of it and reply, "I guess she'd be right…I wouldn't take it too well."

I nodded, turning over a little more so I was lying on my stomach, propping my head up on my arms crossed across his chest, feeling perfectly normal, "Well then her logic nosedived because she pointed out that you were a neurosurgeon." His eyes shot wide and I smiled, seeing the same idea popping up in his head, "Ha…no, no, no; I'll tell you the same thing I told her. You are not going anywhere near my brain with a scalpel."

At that he almost looked affronted, "Why not? I'm good."

Sigh, "Damon you're not doing the surgery…no way in hell."

He pushed himself more upright; forcing me to sit up…I so shouldn't have brought this up, "Because of the trust thing? You don't trust me-"  
"No…no, Damon. It's not that at all. I just wouldn't trust anyone I knew to do it. If Jeremy was the best neurosurgeon in the world I still wouldn't let him do it. Same if it was Jenna or Caroline or Bonnie or Stefan…it doesn't matter."

"But why not? If it's not about trust then why wouldn't you want me to do it?"

Was it not obvious? I let out yet another sigh and put my hand on his, "Damon…think about it. Say…and I'm not saying this is going to happen…but say something goes wrong. If you were the surgeon you'd probably panic or freak out or something. And whatever problems we have right now…If I somehow killed you for whatever reason…I don't know what the hell I'd do."

Realisation swept across his face, quickly followed by a pained frown, "Don't-"

"I'm just saying-"

"Well don't…okay?" he cut me off, "If that happened…no- I don't even want to think about it. Lena you're not going to die."

"I'll try my best-"

His hands suddenly grabbed both sides of my face, forcing me to look at him, "You're not going to die…Elena." It was definitely an order. I was given no choice whatsoever. I nodded, not sure what else I could do…apart from kiss him…god I wanted to kiss him. But he spoke again just as my body took over my mind and started to move forwards a little. "Do you have your file…like from your doctor?"

Shaking myself out of my trance, I nodded and went to stand to go to my bag and get it but he held me down, pointing at me like 'stay there' and went to get it himself. Oh god…I see what this was going to be like now. Returning with the manila file, he sat down and flipped it open. To be perfectly honest none of it really made sense to me; there were loads of sheets with graphs and numbers on…I didn't get it. But apparently he did because he was scoring through it with his serious face on, a little crease between his eyebrows from concentration.

"Anything interesting?" I questioned, half wanting him to explain it all to me.

He glanced up, then back down and nodded, sitting back a little and angling his body a little more to mine, "Well its grade one…that's the least aggressive. There's grade one to four…three and four are malignant…that's cancerous," No shit Sherlock, "One and two are benign but two has the potential to mutate…that's change…"

"I'm not a complete idiot Damon, I know the basics." He almost cracked a smile…almost.

"Just making it clear…it's quite big though…on your frontal lobe…what symptoms have you had?" This was just like going to see the doctor.

I leant back against the side of the sofa, pulling my knees up to my chest, "Urm, really bad headaches…vomiting…I can't smell properly and things like reading and writing aren't entirely easy anymore…"

His jaw was clenched as he nodded, "Black-outs?"

I had to think about it…why would I have to think about something like that? "Yeah…one or two but I can't really remember. They were at home so I didn't really take note."

Something seemed to spring to mind then, "Wait…when I came to see you…"

"Oh…yeah, that was just a headache." I muttered, "And I threw up for the first time after you left." Now why would I go and tell him that for? I should have already seen on his face that he was starting to blame himself…as always, "Shit, Damon don't you dare blame yourself. I will slap you if you dare try and blame yourself."

"But if I'd known! And I made you sick-"

He couldn't blame me…I warned him. The slap would have been a bit more effective if I had a little more strength but my point was made, "What was that for?"

"What do you think? I'll do it again if you don't shut up."

He looked somewhere between hurt and amused, "You didn't have a hit me."

"I told you I would. It's your own fault."

"Well I didn't expect you to actually do it."

"I repeat…your own fault." He shot me a scowl and I just smiled in response, "I should probably get back to New York soon if I'm going to get this surgery though."

He frowned and shook his head, "Hell no, you're not going anywhere. You'll get it here." I opened my mouth to object (like he'd listen to me) "No. You can stay here tonight because it's late and I've just been on a 52 hour shift, but first thing in the morning I'll take you to the hospital."

"Oh shit…sorry, you should have said. _Fifty-two hours_?! How?"

He smirked and shrugged, "You get used to it. And I was a little busy trying to figure out what was wrong with you."

I felt a little guilty at that, "Sorry…go to sleep! What time is it?"

He checked his watch, "Almost ten." What! Where did all _that_ time go? "Come on, bed time for the cripple." He said, standing up and holding his hand out for me.

"Asshole." I muttered but took his hand, letting him lead me through the big black wood double doors into what must be his bedroom. And just as I expected it was completely void of personal touches…all except the few framed photos on the bedside table. Only one was really visible from here and that was one that Stefan had too of one of their family photos before their mother passed away.

Before I knew it he'd led me to the side of the bed and, being too distracted by trying to see the other two photos, he got inpatient and gently pushed me back to fall on the bed. My eyes shot wide and I stared at him, "Damon…"  
"Relax, I'm not doing anything. You were just taking too long."

I smirked, sitting up and turning to lean against the headboard, "Am I allowed to get changed or are you going to go all caveman on me like usual?"

He rolled his eyes, "I am not a caveman."

"Oh I beg to differ."

"Shush," he grinned, ducking out of the room and returning within a minute, my bag in tow. I looked through it for a minute before swearing quietly and he turned back to look at me, "Problem?"

I held up my pyjama shorts, "Genius I am…I forgot a top."

One eyebrow raised and I knew he wasn't going to make this easy for me, "Oh? And what do you suppose I do about that?"

"Damon…don't be a dick."

The corner of his mouth was twitching upwards but he tried not to smile, "Well you should have packed a top…now I guess you're going to have to go without."

I narrowed my eyes, deciding that two could play at this game, "Maybe I will."

He hadn't been expecting that, "I wouldn't mind at all."

Wait a minute… "And where will you be sleeping?"

"Right next to you." Oh damn… he sighed, smirking, "Lena…I hate to admit it but this shithole is a bachelor pad…you don't get the option of a second bedroom."

Touché…I opted for a different tactic, "Damon…I'm _ill_…" He saw what I was doing, "I have a brain tumour…can I _please_ borrow a shirt?" Puppy eyes…slight pout…almost there.

He growled quietly, "You're evil." He muttered, crossing to the closet and pulling out one of the millions of black shirts he had. I don't ever remember seeing him wearing a bright colour…it was always a perfectly crisp white or black shirt. But who was I to complain? He looked incredible in them.

"Thank you." I said with a grin, sitting up to pull off my leather jacket before focusing on the laces of my shoes, only for his hand to stop mine on my foot and I looked up at him in question.

"Please don't use it like that again…at least until it's over." With that he left me to get changed on my own, feeling the little twinge of guilt but as I'd said, I wasn't going to act like it was the end of the world because it wasn't. It wasn't the end of anything.

He returned after I'd dressed, brushed my teeth and slipped into the bed, my hair pulled up into a messy top-knot. He'd already put on his pyjamas…not having changed at all; he still refused to wear a top in bed, just sticking to the trousers. I tried not to stare, biting my lip and looking down, trying my best to ignore the new emotional pain building up. I missed him…I really missed him.

He slipped under the covers on the other side of the bed, lying on his back with the duvet pushed down to just above his trousers so his torso was on full display. I lay on my side, watching his every move. A few minutes after he'd turned out the lights, he turned onto his side and the fact that we were just staring at each other didn't even function with me until a long while later, at which point I felt myself blush, silently thanking the darkness.

"I like your hair like that." He said quietly and I gave a small smile, his words triggering a thought and the smile fell away.

"Oh god…" Concern flashed across his face and he leant up on his elbow, "They're going to shave it all off aren't they? I'm going to be bald…"

When he started laughing I was not impressed, "No…just a little bit. You're not going to be bald Lena."

"I better not be." I muttered, poking his arm in annoyance but he saw through it, moving a little closer.

"You know you're allowed to be scared…"  
"I'm not scared." I said quickly, "I'm not!" I repeated, taking in his unconvinced expression, "Anyway, you'll be there the whole time so I have no reason to be." I didn't look at him as I said it, rather just silently shuffling a little closer and reaching out to play with the ring permanently placed on the middle finger of his right hand, lying on the mattress between us.

"Elena…"

"I want this to stop…"I said suddenly, "This tension…I know it's my fault now but I want it to stop. Because I need you and I-"he continued to move closer until he was right there and I placed my hand on his chest to stop him, "Damon-"

"I love you."

My eyes flickered up to meet his, glowing bright silver in the darkened room and for a moment I lost my breath, "I know…"I breathed, "I love you too." I barely got the words out before he pushed past my hand and pressed his lips to mine, letting out a small whimper before my hands wound through his hair. I know I'd put up a fight about all this, but I wanted it forgotten…this whole thing. I know I'd never forget that image…but I'd said it before and I'll say it again…neither of us where completely happy anything but together.


	9. Chapter 9

**Bad Blood – Chapter Nine**

**Thank you for all the reviews and favourites...fab people :)**

My preconceived hatred of hospitals was not a misconception. They were not nice places. Especially when nurses came in and stuck needles in you, taking your blood and giving you a pleasant smile before leaving again.

Damon, staying true to his word, had brought me in this morning and within an hour I was in one of the consultation rooms with Dr. Hanes. Another hour and I was placed in a typical hospital room and told not to get out of bed. The day had passed in a flurry of tests and blood samples and x-rays…Now it was six o'clock and I was starting to wish I'd just ignored the whole thing and stayed in New York. The worst thing was that it was Damon's one day off and his boss had ordered him to leave the hospital, apparently having spent too much time there…I did understand; he had just done a 52 hour shift. But that said it was incredibly boring here.

My surgery was due in two days so I had another day of this to get through before going in. And it really wasn't much different, apart from the fact that they wouldn't let me eat or drink anything and I was starving…literally. I knew that you weren't allowed to eat before surgery and having general anaesthetic since Damon had gone through everything with me the other morning but still it made it no better.

I didn't see him until about halfway through the day when he suddenly appeared with a flock of people in blue scrubs who I quickly determined to be interns. He was a resident…I knew that much. I couldn't help but stare a little at the professional look I'd never seen before; he wore his dark blue scrubs under the white doctor's coat, a stethoscope hanging around his next and a pen hooked over the coat pocket. He scowled when he saw my smirk, forgetting his interns for a moment and walking straight over to press a quick kiss to my lips, "Hey, how you feeling?"

"Hungry. I take it this is what you call rounds?"

He grinned and nodded, "Correct, someone still watches Grey's Anatomy."

"Right you are McDreamy."

His usual smirk in place, he straightened up and stepped back, turning to look at the six interns who had various shades of fear, nerves and curiosity on their faces, "Smith." He said suddenly, clicking his fingers and a folder appeared in his hand, flipping it open and looking at the first page. I rolled me eyes, realising that this was exactly what I expected him to be like. I almost felt bad for the poor interns. "Dixon, what do we have here?" he said to another and a skinny, weedy looking boy to, rolling off a load of facts about the latest patient, not a personal note in his speech.

"Sorry, Dr. Salvatore," It sounded so strange. Everyone's gaze went to the girl at the edge of the little group, "Will we be able to scrub in on the surgery?"

He raised an eyebrow, "I'll see," A quiet eruption of 'yes's' circulated the group and I smiled, then realising something and looked at their leader.

"Damon…" I said, a slight tone of warning and all attention was brought back to me, "You're not doing the surgery." It was a statement…unmistakably. He was quiet for a moment and my eyes widened, "No! Fuck no, I don't even want you in the room-"

"Lena, calm down," He said, cutting me off and stepping closer.

"No I will not calm down…I told you I didn't want you to do it. You told me you wouldn't-"  
"Woman listen to me!" I almost cracked a smile at his outburst, "You're so annoying. I'm not your surgeon, but I will be in the OR. Don't freak out and don't worry. I will try and forget who you are and how much I love you during the operation…then you'll just be another patient and I won't freak out."

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the female interns look at each other with 'oh my god' looks on their slightly disappointed but awe-filled faces…I get it; he was a god. I frowned, not entirely happy with that, "Right…because I believe that."

"I'm a good actor."

"Like hell you are." I retorted, "And what about when something goes wrong?"

"Nothing will go wrong because you have a very good surgeon."

Sigh, "And when, hypothetically, that very good surgeon makes a mistake and something goes wrong…what will you do? Hypothetically speaking?"

He grabbed hold of my hands, leaning down to look me in the eye, "Nothing. Will. Go. Wrong." He said slowly and clearly like he was talking to a child and I glared at him.

"You're ridiculously stubborn."

"You should have figured that out by now."

"I hate you."  
"No you don't."

Touché. I glared at him, only more annoyed at his cocky smirk, "Bastard." I let out a frustrated sigh and shrugged, "Fine, but I take no responsibility for your reaction if was to di-"

His hand covered my mouth, a sudden serious look on his face, "Elena-"

"Alright, alright. Go finish your rounds." I said with an accidental streak of coldness to my tone and he let out a sigh, straightening up before leading the interns out. The frown didn't leave my face and after a moment I buried my face in my hands, letting out a groan of irritation. Why couldn't he just do as I asked and stay out? It really wasn't that hard.

"Everything alright there?" The voice from the doorway snapped me out of my little tantrum and I looked up to find another doctor, in the same attire as Damon, leaning against the doorjamb. I frowned again though this time in confusion…and a little annoyance at the familiar flutter in my stomach. No-one could blame me for looking. Nodding, I looked the man up and down, he didn't look that much older than Damon and, although not quite as good looking, I could imagine he was a close second place. It was completely ironic though…Damon was McDreamy…this was clearly McSteamy. Complete with the somewhat sleazy tone to his voice but at the same time giving off a strange feeling of trust…like 'hey I may be a man-slut but I'm a trustworthy one'.

"Fine, can I help?"

He shrugged, wandering into the room, offering me his hand and I shook it cautiously, a little baffled, "Jack Chambers, I'm your surgeon." Ahh…should have guessed. I smiled and shook before taking my hand back, "And I hear _you_ are Salvatore's girl."

"It seems so." I said with a smile, quietly liking the sound of that. Feminists would hate me.

"I see why he's so smitten." I rolled my eyes at the rather cliché line and he smirked, standing by the edge of the bed and flicking through the file in his hand, "I'm a good surgeon…I promise you that. One of the best-"

"And modest too."

"What's the point in that?" I laughed, shaking my head, "Hey I got a prize!"

"I'm sure."

He shot me a mock-glare before speaking again, "My point is, you can trust that I'm not going to hurt you in any way. Not just because it would tarnish my rep, but because Salvatore would murder me."

I smiled, nodding knowing he spoke the truth…hell, if our roles were reversed I'd kill him too. "So what you're saying is…?"

"That I'm going to be completely on the mark and it'll be my best grade one surgery yet." He announced and I raised an eyebrow, giving a smile.

"I'm glad. Thank you for the reassurance."  
"No problem, just doing my job." I laughed, only then noticing the other figure in the door, sighing quietly at the sight of Damon. Still in a bad mood? Most likely, and probably still mad at me too. "Ahh there he is. I'll leave you to it." He said, "Remember to trust me." He said, pointing at me and smiling.

"Well I guess my life will sort of depend on it." He grinned and nodded, turning around and walking to the door, muttering something that sounded like 'catch' to him and receiving a sharp elbow in his ribs before both of them smirked and dispersed. I watched with a small, somewhat nervous smile on my face,"Hey."

"You made a friend I see?" He mused, wandering into the room.

I shrugged, "He's my surgeon."

"He's good."

"That's what he said."

He smirked, sitting down, "And arrogant too."

"That's what I said." We fell silent, not looking at one another just sitting…but it was more uncomfortable that I would have liked, "Where'd your minions go?"

He shrugged, "I gave them some work to do. We like to bribe them…if they do what we say and don't speak unless spoken to they get to scrub in on surgeries."

"You would fit right in in Grey's Anatomy."

The corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk and he looked up at me, "And who would I be?" I'd made him watch it so many times all those years ago.

I thought about it for a minute, not really needing to, "McDreamy…" he looked pleased with that, "And _he_," I said, pointing to the door, "Would be McSteamy."

At that he raised his eyebrow in a questioning look, "Something you want to tell me?"

"Chill, it's only you for me. But I'm just pointing out that I'm not blind and he's not ugly."

"If you weren't so sick right now I might be annoyed at you."

Whacking on the innocent smile, I pushed myself into a sitting position so we were a little closer, "There's the jealous streak."

He let out a deep growl, barely audible but it only made my smile widen. He turned slightly, hands pulling me a little closer around my waist and he pressed a kiss to my lips. I pulled away after a moment, needing to say something, "Sorry about earlier…I just really don't want you to be there."

"I know…and it's okay. But it's going to have to be one of those times we agree to disagree because I can't just wait outside in the hallway and wait…I can't do that Lena."

I let out a sigh, knowing that he wasn't about to give up, "So it doesn't matter what I want then." I muttered, leaning back again and he gave one of those 'you're being ridiculous' looks that I was oh so used to, "You're not going to be any help in there…I swear I'll ask your boss…chief whatever to take you out-"

"Don't you dare." He retorted, "Elena I'm going to be there."

"You're a dick." I informed him with a glare but only received a smirk in return.

"You love it." Damn him, "And don't talk to Blake…please."

Ah…so it would work…"Damon I don't want you in there. I know it wouldn't be easy waiting outside but think about it…something goes wrong and get annoyed at Dr. Chambers…then if something where to go seriously wrong you'd blame yourself. It's a completely valid reason why I don't want you anywhere near that OR so yes…I am going to talk to 'Blake'. Be pissed off at me as much as you like, you'll thank me later."

I hated seeing that cold anger in his eyes, particularly when it was directed at me as if very rarely was, "I won't forgive you."

"That's what I said when you cheated on me. Consider it payback." Now that was way below the belt…way, _way_ below but it was necessary.

He seemed speechless for a moment, blinking in surprise as I pulled out the big guns. He didn't say another word to me, just standing up, muttering something about work and storming out the room. He really was pissed off…but he had to understand. I suppose if the roles were to be reversed there was a large possibility that I would do the same thing…but surely he could see why? Or maybe he was just a stubborn asshole who thought he was emotionally stronger than he really was; I know I wouldn't be able to cope with seeing his head cut open.

I didn't call for a nurse for a couple of hours, at least giving him the chance to come back and give in but he didn't. The morphine they'd had doped me up on all day was beginning to wear off and the headache was quickly seeping through the cracks with all new force when I eventually did press the bell. I recognized the nurse as one who'd been bossing all the others around; slightly scary but very lovely, "Hi…" I said when she arrived, sending me a questioning glance and clearly wondering what my trouble was, "Would it be possible for me to talk to the…chief…guy…Blake I think?"

She looked surprised, "Oh…okay. I'll page him…may I ask why?"

"Just about the surgery."

She nodded slowly, "He's a busy man Ms Gilbert…are you sure you couldn't ask Dr. Chambers? You are his patient."

"I know…I need to talk to him."

Twenty minutes later the chief of medicine arrived, a curious look on his face. I'd guess he was around fifty or sixty, his hair turning a little grey around the edges and his face lined ever so slightly. First impression he seemed nice, "Ms Gilbert, forgive me for the delay, I was just finishing a meeting." He said in a strong voice, crossing the room to shake my hand firmly.

I smiled, shaking my head and sitting up a little, "It's no problem, I'm sorry to bother you…I was just wondering if I could make a request about my surgery…"

He quirked an eyebrow in question, "Of course, what would that be?"

"That Dr. Salvatore's not in the OR…?"

At the request he looked complete lost, "Dr. Salvatore? He's one of our best neurosurgeons, why ever would you not want him to operate?"

"Because he's one of my oldest friends and my boyfriend?" Understanding and surprise flickered across his face, "He wants to be there but I really don't…he won't listen to me so I figured you're his boss so…"

"Oh…well I completely understand, I'll make sure he's not in the OR."

"Thank you sir…and tell him I'm sorry; he's really mad at me."

He smiled and shook his head, "Don't you worry Ms Gilbert, I'll pass on the message. I'm afraid he's gone home for the night but I'll call him in first thing in the morning." He informed me, just as his pager rang and he politely excused himself.

I felt a massive wave of disappointment and hurt crash over me…he'd gone home. The night before my surgery and he didn't even say goodbye. I understand he was mad and what I'd said was low but the fact that he didn't understand wasn't easy.

My stomach was rumbling quietly at the hunger and as I lay back, nothing to focus on, I started shivering slightly, suddenly feeling cold and breaking out into a sweat…oh god I was going to be sick again wasn't I? I hated being sick. But it didn't come, rather just a metallic taste in my mouth which refused to go. Maybe the headaches were just getting worse still…they had no reason not to. But it'd be okay because this was the last one. Tomorrow morning I'd be in that OR and this fucking tumour would be cut right out of me…what a lovely thought. It must have been about five minutes later that I realised that steady beeping I'd grown so used to was increasing which meant my heart was speeding up…but it didn't feel like it…it just felt cold. I don't know what happened next, but everything went completely black.

It didn't even feel like a minute before I was coming too again and the first thing I noticed was that I was moving…then there were people around me…but I was still on my bed? Why were they racing my bed down the hall? It felt like some sort of university prank…like where we dragged Olivia Harris' mattress (with her asleep on it) into the middle of the square at midnight, then all sat around it with candles. She was scared. But why was that happening to me in a hospital?

I recognized the man beside me as Dr. Chambers, a serious look on his face and he looked down and saw I was coming to, "You're going to be fine Gilbert…just don't have another seizure." He told me and I almost smiled, "Damon will kill me." That was the last thing I really remember before feeling something sharp being pushed into my skin…somewhere…I couldn't tell where, I just felt it…then suddenly the darkness was creeping in again and before I knew it everything went black.


	10. Chapter 10

**Bad Blood – Chapter Ten**

**Again, everyone who reviews...big love :) I kind of want to get this story done now because I've started another AU one...but thank you for reading!**

**Doesn't everyone just love Season 4? That blood-sharing scene... :) **

**-Damon's POV-**

A loud buzzing woke interrupted my much needed sleep and I groaned, opening one eye to look at the clock. Ten o'clock…no…I was not going anywhere. I hadn't slept in too long. I let the ringing stop, letting out a thankful sigh and relaxing back into the pillow again; the pillow that smelt so perfectly of Elena Gilbert. But my peace only lasted a couple of seconds before off went my phone _and_ my pager. I wasn't even working!

Growling in anger and cursing at whoever was about to receive my exhausted wrath, I sat up and grabbed the offending machinery, flipping it open and putting it to my ear, answering with a straight forward "What?"

I vaguely recognized Jane Clarke's voice on the end of the line; the head nurse at the hospital and kind of a mother figure for all of us…weird that, "You need to come to the hospital. Elena just had a seizure…she's going into surgery."

I think the only words that functioned in my sleep dowsed brain was 'Elena', 'seizure' and 'surgery' before the phone was abandoned and I was moving. I somehow managed to get on my trousers, threw on a black shirt and some shoes before running full pelt out the door, completely forgetting about keys or locking up or the fact that I hadn't hung up the phone. It didn't matter, Elena was going into surgery. She'd had a seizure…

The lift didn't come fast enough, I took the stairs and somehow managed to not fall with all the momentum behind me. Barrelling out into the parking lot underneath the building, I didn't spare a thought to the fact that I was in no fit state to drive. It did not matter; I needed to get to the hospital. And I was there in ten minutes, undoubtedly getting caught on at least five speed cameras on the way.

I stormed into the hospital, looking for someone…anyone. I spotted Clarke by the nurses' station and grabbed her shoulders, "Where is she?"

She blinked, momentarily shocked that she was getting manhandled by a seemingly drunk man, then she realised who I was, "Get off me Damon Salvatore. And I'm not telling you anything until you calm the hell down." Woman she did not want to do that right now.

"Jane, where is Elena?"

"So what? You can march into the OR while she's being operated on? No way, calm down and I'll tell you."

I glared at her, letting go and running my hand through my hair, tugging on it before taking a deep breath, "I'm calm. See…totally calm. Please…I'm _begging _you…tell me where she is."

It shocked her to see me this low…I was Damon Salvatore…I cared about nothing…and I was begging, "OR Two." I was running again before she could blink, "Don't you dare go into that room Damon Salvatore." She yelled after me but it went right in one ear and out the other.

I didn't go into the studio…even in this state I knew that would do more harm than good. But it didn't stop me going to the viewing gallery located to one side, barely acknowledging the other people there as I stopped against the glass, losing my breath for a moment as I took in the sight before me. There she was…but I could barely see her for all the people in green scrubs and aprons and masks around her. I could see the tube in her mouth but Chambers blocked the rest of her face. Not from the screen though…I could see exactly what he was doing from the television screens at each end of the table for all the surgeons to see. My heart was beating too fast and I was out of breath for the running, panic overriding any rational thought and for a moment I realised just how right she was. I could never have done the surgery.

"Damon-"I didn't look away but recognized the voice as my brothers…what the hell was my brother doing here? "Damon look at me."

I managed to drag my gaze away for a second, "What are you doing here?" I didn't really care to know right now, it was just the first thing to spring to mind.

"I was here for work…Jenna called to say she was here so I was visiting just as they were taking her in." His explanation fell on deaf ears; my attention was drawn back to the silent scene in front of me. I wish I could hear what they were saying…why did these rooms have to be soundproofed? My hands pressed against the glass, sending silent prayers up that Chambers wouldn't choose this time to fuck up. "Damon she'll be okay…she's always okay."

My jaw clenched but I said nothing, staring at the screen where Chambers was slowly and carefully cutting a tumour out of my girlfriends brain…but she was much more than that wasn't she. No matter how cautious he was being, it didn't look like enough and I don't know if I could watch. He was one of my closet friends here, Jack…but this was a job I didn't trust him with…I didn't trust anyone with.

I turned, unable to watch anymore and stared at the wall behind, vaguely acknowledging the presence of almost all my interns on my way out into the hallway. Why the hell were they here? Oh yes…intern's loved watching surgery'…but shouldn't they be working? Who cared? Why was I even thinking about that right now?

"I didn't wish her luck." I said suddenly as Stefan emerged, looking at me in question, "We had an argument because she didn't want me in the OR…she was going to tell Blake not to let me in…which she did. But I didn't say goodbye or anything…I just stormed out. I thought she'd be okay and I'd see her in the morning but-"

"Damon shut up." My little brother said suddenly, "Stop talking like she's going to die, she's not. You _are _going to see her in the morning and it's not going to be on a slab in the morgue." I don't know if it was the words or the image that did it but my legs gave out at that and I collapsed, finding myself sitting back against the wall, my head in my hands and I felt my sight blur. No…no I would not cry…not in the hospital. "Shit, sorry Damon…I didn't mean it like that." How else could he mean it? I knocked my head back against the wall, wincing at the accidental force.

"She said she didn't want me in there in case something happened and I kept telling her nothing would. But what if Jack makes a mistake or-"

"Damon, you're not helping anyone by saying that. He's a good surgeon…this is a straightforward procedure…she is going to be absolutely fine." He insisted, dropping down to sit beside me. I watched the nurses and doctors I vaguely recognized walk past us and give us strange looks but I didn't care. People here never saw me look remotely attached to anything because I wasn't. I didn't get attached to patients…I cared that they got better but I didn't show such emotions…they would never see me cry or the like.

I nodded jerkily, "She better be." He grasped my shoulder in that manly comforting way because even as brothers we didn't do the whole hug thing, "I don't know what I'd do without her." I muttered, picking at a loose thread on my trousers.

"Do you _want_ me to hit you?" Maybe I did? "I think you'd eventually manage…you've lasted the last five years-"

"Do you want _me_ to hit _you_?" I retorted, very tempted as I stared at him in disbelief, "How can you even say that? I knew she was alive…I knew that eventually she'd forgive me and at least there was a chance of getting back together. If she died-"I cut myself off before my voice could break when I could feel it was on the edge.

He nodded, a guilty look on his face, "I'm not saying it would be okay…I'm just saying that you wouldn't die-"

"I beg to differ."

His eyes widened a little but how could he be surprised?

Neither of us spoke again…I don't know how long for. We just sat there in silence. Jane Clarke appeared with two Styrofoam coffee mugs, setting her hand on my shoulder for a moment before leaving again with a small nod. She always managed to know exactly what we all needed when.

I knew the surgery could take anywhere between 6 and 12 hours so we were in for a long and painful wait. I almost wished I could fall asleep so I didn't have to deal with the nerves but that would risk missing something…I had to be conscious. At around the four hour mark I got up and started pacing, walking around the corridors of this floor and by some strange twist of fate I found myself looking through the window into the room where the new-borns were sleeping in cots. How did I get to the maternity ward? I quickly made my way back, realising how far I'd walked and the fact that I didn't have my phone or pager meant I was completely out of contact. I ran all the way only to find no change.

And that's the way it went for another three hours. I was sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic armchairs randomly places against the wall between two shelves, accidentally having dosed off when I was shaken awake. Jolting up I found Jack Chambers standing above me and instantly frowned; what was he doing here? He was meant to be in surgery…

"Well what are you waiting for?"

**-Elena's POV-**

There was a loud and constant beeping somewhere to the left of my head. It had been going for longer than I could count and I swear it was not permanently engrained in my brain.

It must have been at least an hour ago that I first tried to open my eyes…which was a spectacular fail. I attempted for what I guessed would be somewhere around tenth time now. Success! Bright white light flooded through the small crack and I blinked, wincing at the pain it caused my sensitive eyes…now this felt like a hangover, what with my head throbbing and all-wait…why was my head throbbing? Do not tell me I'd gone through all that surgery just to have nothing change.

Five minutes later I'd managed to keep my eyes open effortlessly, not focused on pushing myself up into a sitting position. I was back in a different room to before, this time there was a strange grey clip on one of my fingers and I was all plugged into some sort of heart machine, which explained the beeping. Reaching one hand up I found the pressure around my head was down to the bandage tied there, surely an attractive look. The rest of my hair was hanging limply over my shoulders; I needed to get it cut…

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running footsteps outside before a dishevelled figure crashed into the door frame. I took a moment to figure out who it was, having never seen him in such a state, by which time he was right by the bed grasping my hand in both of his and pressing it to his lips, "Oh my god you scared me so much." He rushed out, leaning down to kiss my cheeks, my nose, my forehead and finally my lips.

I smiled, "You look tired." I pointed out, taking in his black shirt, not tucked in and with the top few buttons undone like he'd got changed in a rush. His raven hair screamed bedhead too but it was a look he could carry…was there a look he couldn't? I'm sure he'd probably still look good dressed in full Lycra or an Elvis impersonator costume.

"Well I was in a bit of a rush to get here." He murmured; still busy looking over me to make sure I was all still there. I'd never seen him so frantic and put one of my hands on his to stop him. He dropped down into the chair strategically placed by the bedside, holding my hand tight. "Are you okay? Feeling okay?"

"A bit of a headache but I'm sure it's just after effects." That didn't help to calm him at all, "Damon relax, everything's okay…" I said quietly in a soothing voice, reaching my other hand to run through his hair, smiling a little at the cashmere feel of it.

He nodded jerkily, slightly leaning into my hand, "I got a call last night saying you'd had a seizure and were going into surgery…I swear I couldn't get here fast enough. But you were already in there and the last thing I'd said to you was that I wouldn't forgive you for some pathetic little thing-"

"Damon! I'm fine, I'm here, you're here and we're both alive...stop freaking out."

He tried to frown but couldn't quite make it, instead dropping his head to kiss my knuckles again and I sighed, leaning back a little and closing my eyes for a moment, "Don't go back to New York." For a moment I thought I imagined it…then I saw him looking at me with an expression of serious pleading…

"Da-"

"Don't go back. Stay here…get a job here."

I sighed again, "Damon I can't do that. You know I can't…my life is in New York." The idea of staying here was heavenly but completely unrealistic. I had a job, a flat and friends there… "Can we not do this now Damon? Give me at least an hour after I wake up…please."

An apologetic look crossed his face and he nodded, "Sorry…but do think about it. I don't want to lose you again."

I didn't expect that and wasn't quite sure what to say, suddenly remembering the awful words I'd said to him the day before, "No...You won't…Damon I'm so sorry about what I said…about making up for what you did…that was low and I'm so sorry."

He shook his head, "No I deserved it. The second I saw you in there I realised how stupid I'd been. I could never be in the room."

"Wait…what do you mean you saw me?"

"There's a viewing gallery in all the OR's…for people to watch. It's usually just inspectors, assessors or interns…occasionally family or friends…I was in there for a bit."

Great…at least someone enjoyed it, "Only a bit?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow, teasing slightly and he nodded.

"Couldn't watch. Everything Jack was doing looked wrong…" I laughed quietly at the lack of faith he had in his friend, "It was right of course…but the way he was whacking that scalpel around-"

"Please…don't; I am a little squeamish." He laughed quietly, giving my hand a gentle squeeze, "So who else watched? I'm guessing it's like live entertainment for you crazy people."

He grinned and nodded, "All my interns…I think they've taken a liking to you. They kept asking about you." I lifted an eyebrow in question, somewhat amused by the idea, "They're under the impression that I am…emotionless…you might say. So they were a little surprised that I displayed some sort of affection towards you. Meaning you managed to prove to them that I'm not a robot."

"You are far from a robot Salvatore." How the hell was he emotionless? I mean sure, he didn't like that many people back in Mystic Falls and High School and he sure didn't come across as the most approachable person…in fact he was probably one of the most feared people in the school, but emotionless? Never.

"I try my best." He disagreed with a smirk, "And that reminds me…Stefan's here. He had some business meeting in LA and Jenna told him you were here or something so..."

"Ooh yay, I get visitors! Where is he?"

He shrugged, "No idea…he said something about arriving just as you were being taken in which was around nine…so he may have gone back to his hotel to sleep for a bit. It's almost six now so he might be back soon." He told me, checking his watch.

My eyes widened a little, although I probably should have realised how long it had been, "Shit, go home! Sleep! Why are you here? You must be exhausted and you've got work tomorrow."

But of course he only rolled his eyes, "Seriously? I'm not going anywhere until you're leaving. And I've got tomorrow off so don't worry."

I shot him a scowl, not understanding why he wouldn't leave…well I did understand, "Damon go home…half a day…sleep. Nothing is going to happen while you're gone and Stefan's here to keep my company. Or I could just make a friend. Besides…they'll probably make me do more tests as soon as they figure out I'm awake."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I'll kick you out."  
"I'd like to see you try. You can't even stand up." Bitch. If I could get all these wires out of me I might have been able to. "I'm going nowhere."

Well he certainly stayed true to his word. He left the room about three times throughout the day to make emergency checks on various other patients and/or tell of his interns. He'd given his keys to Stefan and sent him to get his phone and pager, meaning he was contactable…despite the fact he ignored the less important calls. So we spent more or less the whole day sitting around the room chatting or talking to doctors who were running follow-up tests. A lot of what they said didn't really make sense to me but I understood it as best I could and once they'd left Damon would translate it all for me. I tell you I've never felt like such an idiot.

The next morning (Damon had insisted on sleeping on the chair in the room, saying he'd only come back once I was asleep if he kicked me out) Dr. Chambers came in to talk more about the surgery and recovery. Apparently it had gone well (good to know) and there hadn't been any complications…apart from the seizure that was…but fortunately it hadn't had any great affect. I'd be allowed to leave after about a week, regarding the CT scan came back normal. Although Damon hadn't brought up the 'don't leave' conversation again, it was stuck at the back of my mind and I couldn't help but not want the week to end. As much as I hated the hospital and all…leaving meant going back to New York and I wasn't sure if I wanted to just yet. Well they'd also told me that I wouldn't be allowed on a plane for at least two weeks so it might have to be a road trip for me. Except for the fact that I wasn't allowed to drive either…train?

Another thing they told me not to use was a phone…which was really useful. So instead Damon brought me his laptop (he's amazing) and allowed me full control. So the days, or nights, he was working and I wasn't busy sleeping, talking to nurses, or having (more) tests, I'd be on Skype or Facebook talking to my people. I called Mick (video off) to tell him what was happening and he said he'd give me a month off, but if I could make it and I was well enough it'd be nice to see me at the gala (with a boyfriend). Then there was Jenna, Ric, Jeremy, Caroline, Bonnie, Katherine…so many people to talk to but at least it passed the time. I was dying of boredom in this place.

At this moment in time I was calling Jones and after a few rings the screen flickered to life and I saw my trusty PA, hard at work…at my desk. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Damon, in his doctor's coat and all, walking past the doorway and stopping at the nurses' station directly outside, looking through at me. "Hello my sick boss." Jones quipped, giving a mock-salute and clicking the pen shut. "Feeling better?"

I smiled, then noticed something and scowled, "Jones…you're in my office," I said in my 'boss' voice and he winced, looking around as if he'd forgotten. Damon was in the doorway now, watching with an amused expression on his face, "Again, may I add. You're lucky I like you."

"But it's such a nice office…" he said, leaning back in my chair…_my_ chair.

"Hence why it's mine! Did I not buy you a very nice chair?"

He nodded, "You did…but I prefer your _office_. There's a nice view. And I can relax more." He said, kicking his feet up off onto the desk. Oh no…

"Alex Jones get your feet off my desk right this minute!" I shouted, trying not to laugh as he let out a sigh and dropped them back to the ground, "I'm going to get you back for that when I get home." I muttered, glancing over at Damon as he walked over, "I can give your chair to Martin or someone who'll appreciate it."

"Oh no I do appreciate it! But when you're not here someone has to keep this lovely desk warm." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head, "You didn't answer my question anyway, are you feeling better? When's your surgery?"

Sigh, "Are you blind? Can you not see the massive white bandage wrapped around me head?" His mouth formed an 'o' shape like he hadn't put two and two together, "But yes, much better."

"Well I'm glad. When do you think you'll be back because the Boss-man's giving me filing to do..._filing_."

I grinned, "Serves you right, cocky bastard." He gave me an unimpressed look and I sighed, turning serious, "Give it a week or so…I'm not allowed on planes or to drive so that limits the ways I can get home. I guess I could take a train…"

"Tell me the earliest you can get out of there and I'll book it." He said eagerly, clearly jumping at the idea of real work.

Laughing quietly, I nodded, "Sure…but I might not go straight away once I'm discharged…" At his questioning expression I explained, "I have a friend here." I looked over the top of the screen at Damon who was standing at the end of the bed, one of those expressions on his face that clearly questioned his title. "Perhaps more than friend." He frowned, not liking that much either.

"No…no, no, don't exploit your time off to hang out with your boyfriend. No…he'll have me sharpening pencils or going on coffee runs for the whole office. Please come home." So that's what he was up to.

"Jheeze you'd think I'd get a little more sympathy. When you get ill I'll make you come to work every day."

He sighed, relenting for this one point, "Fine, you can have a bit. But that reminds me…you do realise Boss still expects to see you at this ridiculous gala thing…seems you have a date now."

Damn…just my luck, "Shit…when is it?"

"Next Friday…"

Why? Was it really necessary for me to be there? To get promotions then yes. "Uh, fine. If I'm back I'll be there."

"It's not like you have to worry about clothes; your friend works at Vogue."

"This is true." I never had to buy dresses for these things thanks to trusty Vera, "Right, well I'll call you later about when I come back…in the meantime reacquaint yourself with _your_ desk or I'll start locking my office…and desk."

"You're no fun Gilbert."

"Goodbye Jones."

I hung up and flipped the screen shut, looking up at Damon with a smile on my face, "Sorry…"

"No problem…who's Jones?"

"Would you believe I have a PA?" He shook his head…well thanks, "He's brilliant. Don't know what I'd do without him."

He nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "What do you have to be back for then?"  
I leant back a little, letting out a heavy sigh, "Charity gala…the company do it every year. And every year my boss insists that I go because he wants to meet my boyfriend…except I never had one so it was always a little awkward and I didn't like going…so I didn't. Or else I just took friends."

"Well now you do," He pointed out with a grin, "And if that was your way of inviting me then it would be my pleasure."

"But you can't just leave…you've got work here…-"  
"-I'll be there Lena…what kind of boyfriend would I be if I wasn't?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Bad Blood – Chapter Eleven**

I arrived back in New York the day before the gala was due. I say 'I'…I mean 'we'. Yes…Damon had come all the way back with me; and it wasn't easy like a plane…no, we got a sleeper train. It was great fun and all, but I couldn't help but feel a little bad that I'd made him come all the way. Actually no, because I didn't make him at all; it was entirely his choice.

The nerves were mounting as we approached my apartment building and I started to wish I'd called Vera ahead to tell her we were coming. To be honest I hadn't really had the time. I mean she knew I was coming back in these couple of days but not when so she'd probably go a little mental. As we stepped out of the lift I felt him slip his hand into mine and I gave a smile in reply, gripping onto the comfort. The door loomed ahead of us and I took a deep breath before slotting my key in and turning, hearing the familiar click before pushing.

All the curtains were open and from the big window in the main room, just through the alley between the two buildings across the street we could just see the glittering skyscrapers of downtown Manhattan. I glanced around, wondering where my flatmate was; the thought was barely given a second to form before a familiar head popped out of her door and I grinned at the shocked expression that spread over her face before merging into a massive smile, "Oh my god you're back!" She yelled, running over and dragging me into a massive hug.

I winced a little but couldn't help the laugh that escaped, "Careful V, still a little sore." I muttered, gesturing towards my head. The bandage was off and all I could do was thank Dr. Chambers that he left a thick strand of hairs between my forehead and where the incision was. In actual fact the shaved area was only an inch or so wide and quite narrow (I don't know how it worked) so it was pretty easy to hide.

"Sorry, how are you? Did it go well? You're all better?" she rushed out, stepping back and looking me over, focusing on my head, "You're bald."

"No I'm not, you can't even see it!" Damn it she did notice, but then I noticed her smirk and knew she was kidding, "Bitch. I'm fine…great even. No more migraines."

"Well I'd hope not. And I see you brought a friend home." She pointed out, turning and strolling over to the kitchen and pulling out three glasses. I dumped my things and turned to Damon, telling him to do the same then made a move for him to follow; poor guy looked almost nervous.

With a small content smile on my face, I slid into the bar stool and, just like I always did, popped one of the crunchy red grapes into my mouth, pulling the bowl a little closer, "Yeah…you've met Damon…?"

She nodded, taking a bottle of wine out of the fridge, "I have…when we went for your cousins wedding. Hello Damon." She said with a smile and he nodded, stealing a grape out of my hand and just smirking at me annoyed sound…that was a nice one, "Wine anyone? Elena I bought your favourite."

"Ooh yay, you're a babe." I grinned, looking forward to being able to drink alcohol. Of course Damon would ruin that for me.

"Or not…you're not having alcohol for another month at least."

We both stared at him in shock, "Like hell. I want some wine."

"Well you're not having any, doctor's orders."

I raised an eyebrow, turning more to face him, "You're not my doctor. Chambers is my doctor…surgeon…whatever; my point is…not your job."

"I am _a_ doctor, surgeon whatever. And as your _boyfriend_ it is my place to care about your wellbeing." Damn…

Vera broke the tense staring competition by an 'Aww', "You two are cute." She said, leaning against the counter and taking a sip of her wine, smiling as she looked over the rim at the two of us.

I shot her a glare, "Shush, he's a dick. And I'll just stick to the original source." They both laughed as I ate another grape, glaring again at Damon as he took his own glass.

"Yum"

"Bitch" He grinned, leaning over to press a kiss to my forehead and wrapping an arm around my waist, I returned my attention to my friend, "So how have you been? How's work?" I'd talked to her on Skype but it wasn't the same.

She shrugged, "Same old, same old. Nothing interesting happening…I'm up for a promotion and there's a-"

"What!" I couldn't help but yell, "A promotion! To what?"

Another noncommittal shrug after she pushed herself up onto the work surface, "Managing Editor."

Oh my god! Staring at her in amazement, hands out like 'why the hell aren't you completely ecstatic you freak?' "Uh…_wow_! Vera why the hell aren't you jumping around like a crazy person?! You've wanted that position for ages!"

"I _am_ excited."

"Don't sound it…"  
She nodded, another gulp of wine, "I am."

I laughed quietly, "You're odd V." Standing up, I walked over and gave her a hug, earning a laugh out of her.

"I'm not odd." I gave her a look that clearly stated I didn't agree before crossing to the fridge and poured myself a glass of cranberry juice, "So Jones emailed the other day…wondering whether or not you're going to this gala thing because Mick wants to know. Doesn't he ever…and I need to find you a dress."

I glanced at Damon, and then back at her, "Yeah…might as well. But its tomorrow night and I'm not exactly prepared."

"You don't need to be. I'm here! I'll call Claire in the Closet tomorrow and set you up for hair and make-up." I opened my mouth to object but she rushed on, "Don't say no, I'm going too so you won't be on your own with a load of models." I rolled my eyes, shrugging and leaning into Damon a little, "I don't know why you turned down that scout though-"  
"Vera, enough about the bloody scout." I objected, feeling myself flush a little in embarrassment.

"What?! You would have been great!"

"Shtum! No way, drop it."

I felt Damon's eyes on me and knew exactly what he was about to say, "You got scouted?"

"It's not unusual, it happens to a lot of people."

"Yes, but you're one of the _idiot_ few who turn it down." Vera muttered, finishing her glass.

"No, I just have higher aspirations than to become a model. No offence to models that is…I know a few and they're all lovely people…but I want to be a publisher and you know that."

She made a sort of harrumphing sound before giving up, "You're no fun. Anyway, if you can bear to leave your boyfriend tomorrow morning, come to my office and I'll get you sorted. Or you can come too…I doubt it matters. I have to go in early so I'm off to bed now." I nodded, smiling as she hopped down and circled the island to give me a quick kiss on the cheek, "Glad you're okay. Night hun."

"Night V."

"And goodnight Damon…don't be _too_ loud you two."

With that she was gone and I turned to him with a smirk on my face, leaning up and kiss him for a moment, "You're very quiet…you okay?" I questioned, reaching up absent-mindedly to run through his hair.

He nodded, grabbing my wrist gently and turning his head to press a kiss to my palm, concern evident on his face "I'm fine. Are you? Head's not hurting at all?"

Laughing quietly, I shook my head, "I'm perfectly fine Damon, stop worrying." I slid off the stool and twisted my hands into his, "Come on,"

He followed easily, one step behind me as I headed through the flat to my room, "I always worry about you. This whole ordeal just makes me worry more." I rolled my eyes with a smile, shaking my head as if he was being silly, because he was! I didn't say anything else, just closing my room behind us and dropping his hand, heading to the side of the bed to grab some pyjamas out of a drawer, and then heading to the bathroom. When I re-emerged five minutes later he'd stripped down to his boxers and was lying on my bed, looking at the dog-eared copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' that had been left on my bedside table. "You're obsessed with this book."

I dropped down into the bed on the other side, snuggling into the thick duvet mattress and let out a sigh, "No I'm not, I just like it."

He raised an eyebrow, setting it on the side and reaching over me to switch off the light before lying down on his side so we were facing, "Oh no? How many times have you read it?" I didn't answer, trying not to smile, "My point."

"Shush." Closing my eyes, I shuffled forwards and turned over, smiling as his arms pulled my close back against him and I felt him lift his head to press a kiss to the top of my neck, just beneath my ear, "You're going to have to come to Vogue with me tomorrow…you don't have a suit with you."

"I can just buy one."

"No you have hundreds…borrow one. Besides…it'll probably be Armani or something so don't complain." I felt his grin against my skin, "You might even get to keep it."


	12. Chapter 12

**Bad Blood – Chapter Twelve**

The charity gala was always a red-carpet event, what with the number of celebrities that attended. It was one of those typical things that appear in a magazines 'hot or not' column. So far I'd spotted a few familiar faces…including one…what was her name again…oh yeah! Madonna. Celebrities just loved charities and cameras didn't they? I knew the company was big but the enormity of this event always surprised me.

Vera had spent ages trying to pick out a dress for me while I wandered around the closet in amazement…no matter how many times I'd been in there I'd never get used to it. Damon wasn't so impressed…more shocked about the extensive needs of women. She made him leave when she'd finally selected the right one and I had to admit…it was amazing. It was floor length and strapless, a deep red, almost burgundy colour with an empire waistline before falling down in soft, light material. Classic…but very pretty…according to her and another older woman in the Closet it looked perfect. I took their word for it. Make-up was simple and I left the artists to it, assuming that they knew what they were doing. She put me in some six inch black peep-toe heels with a thick block heel and platform before we left. Damon met us at the door in a perfectly crisp black suit and white shirt…I think we were both suitably in awe of one another…he always looked so perfect, it was hardly fair. But then he kept whispering the same in my ear throughout the limo ride. Oh I forgot to mention…you know the big shock? Vera's date?...Elijah Mikaelson…yep…was not expecting that.

By the time everyone was inside and sat down at the various tables, it was almost nine o'clock. The huge hall was set out with seemingly hundreds of extensively laid circle tables with white table-clothes and candles in the middle…I had to admit the whole place looked stunning. The evening started with a speech from the 'top man', followed by dinner and dancing as was expected. Where the money came from at these events was the auction. On one side of the room a long table was set up with men and women dressed smartly in neat suits, displaying all the luxury items. This was probably the main reason for all the extensive security too, since there was a good few million at least on that table alone. Diamonds, sapphires, crystals, ruby's…all manner of precious jewels cast into various pieces of jewellery. People had put up holiday houses for auction…cars, anything. And all the money went to charity. Of course the majority of the people present were wealthy enough to just give away there two million dollar pad in the Bahamas without leaving a dent in their bank account. How our lives were different. Thankfully you weren't expected to sell things.

I didn't leave Damon's side for a moment, not wanting to any more than he did. Sure there was still so much to talk about, what with the whole living on different sides of the continent / country but for tonight that didn't matter…touch wood. But as long as his arm was wrapped around my waist and there were smiles on both our faces, everything was right. And that was good because it really didn't take long for one Mick Tomlinson to find us.

I spotted him coming before Damon and closed my eyes for a moment, "Oh here we go-"I hardly got the near silent words out.

"Elena Gilbert! There's my favourite employee." He said in a sort of cheer and I whacked on a smile as he planted a kiss on my cheek, sliding into the empty seat next to me "And…who's this?" He asked, looking at Damon with that huge smile on his face and I could almost hear the ideas spinning in that head of his.

"Sir, this is Damon…my boyfriend," Both their eyes seemed to spark at the word, for different reasons obviously and I felt Damon's hand tighten slightly around mine, a pleased look on his face like 'yes I am'. Mick looked even happier if that was possible, "Damon this is my boss, Mick Tomlinson."

They shook hands firmly like all businessmen do, "Pleased to finally meet one, or is this another one of your friends stepping in while really he has a boyfriend working in a club in Manhattan."

I couldn't help but laugh at that, "No, Damon's an actual boyfriend. And Chris wasn't pretending to be my boyfriend, only being a friend."

He gave me that knowing look so I just sighed, "And so Damon, what do you do for a living? And how did you two meet for that matter?" And so the grilling commenced. But why I would ever doubt Damon's ability to impress was beyond me…that came out wrong. But he was a charmer…that much was undeniable. And Mick was certainly impressed. Like many people, he heard the word 'doctor' and put him down in the 'yes' pile…then he heard 'neurosurgeon' which of course led on to other topics.

"Ah, speaking of…Elena how did the surgery go? Your PA told me you were in California, exploiting the time off I assume."

Smiling a little, I nodded, "Yeah I went to see this one." I said, "I didn't really have much choice in having the surgery there but I promise you I didn't even see a beach."

He laughed quietly, "And it went well I presume?"

I glanced at Damon, knowing this was more his field and so he replied, "Yeah it all went well. My friend and colleague was the surgeon, removed the tumour without an issue as far as he told me. Just one complication but you're perfectly fine now so that's all that matters." He said with a smirk, our eyes locking for a moment and I tried to ignore the heat rising in my cheeks; so not the time or place.

Mick was oblivious to all, "Complication?" Worry spiked in his voice and I sighed, shaking my head a little.

"It wasn't really anything…I had a seizure so they took me into surgery earlier than expected."

"It wasn't exactly nothing Lena-"I shot him a look but he always had to have his own way, "Well if we hadn't had that fight-"

My eyes widened a little, "Can we not talk about that here…and if you even think about blaming yourself for something so completely out of your control I swear I will slap you."

For a moment we just stared at each other, but then it got too much and we both cracked smiles, the idea of me causing such a scene in front of all these gems of society being completely ridiculous, "I'd like to see you try."

"I'll wait until I have the element of surprise."

"I'll be waiting."

With a bright smile I turned back to my boss, thinking maybe I should change the subject…he was my boss after all, "Sir when do you want me back for work?"

He thought for a moment, "Well, as long as you're all healed up…next Wednesday there's a big job up for offer. If you're there it'll only be between you and Kate."

"Cool…I'll be there."

He smiled at that, shaking his head knowingly, "Thought so. I need to go find my wife before she places too many bids." And so we said our goodbyes and off he went. His wife really didn't have any concept on the value of money…she was great, a lovely woman but she needed a lesson or two in finances.

"Well he seems nice…" Damon muttered into my ear, pressing a kiss to my cheek and I smiled, leaning into him.

"Yeah…he's a good boss."

A short silence followed and I could tell he was thinking about something, but what it wasn't something I was expecting, "How about I move here…instead of you moving to California." I froze at that, completely shocked, "You're so settled here so it would make more sense…one of us is going to have to move-"

"No…Damon no. You can't move to the other side of the country. What about your job…all your friends. You're have one of the best jobs in that hospital."

"Well I want you more than the job."

I let out a sigh; he _knew_ he was putting me in a hard position that I had told him I didn't want to be in, yet at least, "And I want that too but you're not giving up your job for me. No way, I wouldn't forgive you if you did. Don't do it."

He raised an eyebrow, "There's a lot of 'not forgiving' going around." Well he had me at that…what could I really say in return? How many times did we say 'I won't forgive you if you do that'…but we always do, not matter how serious. He let out a sigh, pulling my hand into both of his, "Elena I want to be able to come home every night and find you there…I want to be able to look forward to weekends or days off when we can just spend the day together. I don't want to have to book a five our flight a week in advance; I don't want it to take that long to get to you. Lena I don't _want_ a long distance relationship and I know you don't either."

My eyes were locked on his hands entwined with mine, trying to get my head around the speech and figure out what I could possibly say in response. Because I wanted all that too…_God_ I wanted all of that so bad…but it seemed so impossible. I could feel his gaze boring into the side of my face and I opened my mouth to speak, closing it again as I forgot the rash idea on how to phrase it, then, "I-…" Again…"How?" I asked, looking up at him with the question all over my face.

Another moments silence followed, "We'll figure something out." I almost laughed, shaking my head at the obvious futility of the situation, "Elena I'm serious, I only just got you back, I'm not going to lose you again over something this stupid."

I sighed, reaching up a hand to stroke down his jaw, knowing how he felt, "You won't…that's not going to happen, I promise. I just…" I honestly wasn't sure how to put this without it sounding awful, "I don't see how it can work…" His eyes widened a little and I rushed on, feeling guilt shoot through me, "No, don't look at me like that. It's just we're _so_ far apart."

"It'll work." He cut me off again before I could even start, "We'll make it work Elena. And if it doesn't then I _will_ move here…or vice versa…whatever."

"But that's not fair…if you were to move here that wouldn't be fair on you. You'd have to start over at a new hospital that wouldn't be as good-"

"I don't care."

"I do!" I paused, not wanting to shout. An idea popped into my head and it spilled out before I could stop it, "If one of us is going to move then both of us should move." He looked at me in confusion so I continued, "We both start over…new jobs…well, same job, new place…new city…new life. It could be in…I don't know…what's halfway between New York and LA? Somewhere in Nebraska or Kansas…" There was a smile spreading over his face, like he wanted to laugh, "Don't laugh at me Damon Salvatore."

Of course he couldn't help himself and it didn't take long before I started laughing too, "I'm sorry, of all places, that is so random."

"What's wrong with Nebraska?"

"Nothing…nothing at all. But we're not moving to Nebraska." I smiled, shrugging because it didn't really matter to me, "I think if we're both going to pick up sticks and all…we should go back to Mystic Falls…or Richmond; just for a while."

Now that surprised me…the idea had never once crossed my mind, "Mystic Falls? That's a bit of a step down from where we are now…"

He shrugged, "I could get a job at Richmond General Hospital…you could find a job in a publishing firm there…why couldn't it work?"

I let out a sigh, looking away from him and out at the crowds of rich people, dancing and talking and just having luxurious fun. I spotted Mick and his wife laughing with a group of businessmen…Jones and his girlfriend sitting at a table with a group of his office friends. Then finally there was Vera, dancing away with Elijah on the floor with all the other couples. I smiled as he twirled her around and she laughed, looking so much more carefree than she usually did…Moving back to Mystic Falls with Damon would be a dream…but a dream it would remain…it could never be reality.

**Just saying, am I the only one who thought 4x04 was a bit of an anti-climax? Tell me what you thought :)**


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